


Inconvenient Glitch

by zeirt



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Gen, What-If, lotsa death, lotsa drama, spoilers of the WHOLE GAME
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-28
Updated: 2016-11-14
Packaged: 2018-06-10 10:29:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 41,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6953002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeirt/pseuds/zeirt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Unlikely AU timeline starting in Chapter 2.)</p>
<p>Hajime couldn't hold it together any longer. He had to escape the island. However, his plan backfires.<br/>A new student takes his place, someone that nobody has expected to see, not even himself. Monokuma is just thrilled to see what will happen after.<br/>After all, the Neo World Program was never perfect.</p>
<p>
  <b>The story is not completed. It just won't be continuing because I will no longer work on it. Sorry.</b>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hesitation

**Author's Note:**

> A couple of disclaimers before starting this:  
> 
> 
>   * I played the English localization of both games. The characters will refer to each other as in that version (with first names). Sorry if it bothers anyone
>   * This is easily my first fanfic
>   * English is not my first language. I tried to proofread as much as I could, though.
> 

> 
> Please enjoy! The first two chapters are the introduction of the actual plot because it suddenly got lengthy.

The whole scene was seen by Hajime as if it were in slow motion.

His hands firmly gripped the cold handle, so tight it would bend if he applied more pressure. His teeth clenched and his limbs felt stiff, but they still moved with a determination he didn't have the time to feel scared of. His whole body moved into the swing as if he had done it countless times before. A horrifying sound came to his ears. Something shattering in pieces, crunching noises. The sound a skull made when bashed in was more dreadful than he had ever believed. The brain was at fault, too. He could see it, how her head slowly deformed and a sticky liquid came out, brighter and redder than her hair. The swing was soon over, and her head breaking was all he heard. She hadn't struggled or said anything. It had been so instantaneous she couldn't react in time. She just dropped on the ground with a hard thump. Blood began pooling out of her wound, staining the once white floor. Hajime dropped the bat, which rolled slowly, smearing more crimson on the floor.

Mahiru Koizumi was now dead. 

Hajime dropped to his knees, unable to hold his tears. Although he had been the one who did it, he doubted it until the end. And now there was no turning back. He couldn't get caught when he was just one step away from leaving the island. Even so, he couldn't stop shaking, but he had to pull himself together. He hadn't spent the last few days coming up with a plan to be caught in the act. At this point, he couldn't hesitate anymore. He had taken risks. Maybe he hadn't even been thinking rationally for the whole time, but he couldn't think he would lose now. Not now. Slowly, he composed himself as he wiped his tears. He looked down on himself to notice, as he had predicted, his shirt stained with blood. Good thing he had an excuse to go back to his cottage.

"Hey, Hajime!" Kazuichi had seen him when walking back, right in front of the diner, and now waved at him. "Where are you coming from?"

He had been careful enough to consider the possibility of someone seeing him when he went back to the first island, but he didn't fear his suspicion. Hajime had taken off his clothes, spotting a pair of swimming trunks he had put on beforehand just for this. He carried the dirty shirt on his shoulder, along with his pants, and held his shoes with the free hand. "I was sunbathing in the beach for a while. I wanted to calm down a little." he added a absent-minded shrug as if it hadn't helped too much.

"You should stick by! I was going to tell you earlier, but you stormed off!" Kazuichi started to get excited, which was never a good thing for his nerves. "Listen, I heard that the girls are going to the beach today, in a while... all by themselves... Doesn't it sound like a perfect opportunity?"

He couldn't help the look of disappointment he directed to the Ultimate Mechanic. For someone with such a title, sometimes he was a pervert. Teruteru was remarkably worse, though. "I'm going to pass. I'm going back to my room." he excused himself and began to walk away. "Sorry. But tell me how it went later." At least he attempted to sound slightly interested to not put him off too much.

Back at his cottage, and without seeing anyone else in the way, he began to work on cleaning his shirt. Curiously, Monokuma had supplied them with cleaning products able to take out blood out of clothes easily. He had to have done it on purpose. As he waited for it to dry up, he also waited for something else, which wouldn't take long. After all, the girls were going to the same beach soon.

“A body has been discovered!” Monokuma's cheery voice came out from the speakers of the monitor in his room. Just the cue he had been waiting for to quickly start working after everyone came out of their cottages.  
He set the letter he had prepared beforehand, placed the files he needed to get rid of in Mahiru's room and ripped the note she had in a thousand pieces. He recovered his shirt, now dry, and prepared himself to pretend to look for the crime scene like a headless chicken. He ended up teaming up with Nekomaru, and were the last two to arrive to the beach house.

He wasn't prepared to face the body again. He had barely looked at her before leaving in a hurry, but now it looked even worse. There was even more blood than before and she had fallen in an unnatural way, with her limbs uncomfortably bent. A simple glance at her head was enough to confirm he had at least shattered half of her skull. He looked away and placed a hand over his mouth, feeling sick. At least he wouldn't give himself out by looking unaffected. Hiyoko was crying loudly in a corner, both saddened and angered by the death of her friend. Some were looking around for clues, although not everyone was there. There were some missing people such as Fuyuhiko, which was odd... he saw him leave his cottage when the announcement played.

"Hello, Hajime." a voice startled him. It sounded way too relaxed. He peered over only to find Nagito smiling at him. Wasn't he tied up at the old hotel building? As if he had read his mind, the other responded. "Monomi untied me as soon as the body discovery announcement played. She wants me to help out. If only I wasn't useless, it would have been a good idea."

"What was Monomi thinking?" he thought out loud, giving the other boy a foul look. He was tied up for a reason, and now he was going to mess with everyone again. He had considered coming to him for help, but he couldn't bring himself to trust him. It didn't matter if he was the blackened or not, he just couldn't trust him. He gave another look at the body, then his eyes fixed on the metal bat.

"It’s the same as in Twilight Syndrome Murder Case." Chiaki's voice came from his side. She had been investigating too, of course and she was pointing now at the bat he was looking at. The bat he had used.

"Oh, right. Girl E was killed with a metal bat too... But aside from that, I don't see any other similarities." he observed. He tried to give another look to the room to check on everyone, but he couldn't concentrate.

"Don't you think it's suspicious? You've played the game too, right?" she asked, nervously playing with the straps of her backpack.

"Y-yeah... but I don't see the connection. It just started in the middle of a story and ended just like that without an explanation." he said, hesitating again. He had planned this too, of course. He knew he wasn't the only one to play the game, but he considered a good idea to pretend he never saw the true ending. 

"That's because you haven't beaten it yet. There's more past that Game Over screen." Of course, the Ultimate Gamer had easily figured out the trick to make it. Anyone could, although it took him two tries to read the last screen properly and see the trick. "I think you should go play it again." she added after a moment of silence.

The investigation played out with a few odd incidents, especially after leaving the beach house without finding anything useful. Chiaki made him play the game again with her, as he played dumb and had her explain the code to unlocking the true ending. Thankfully, Monokuma didn't give out that he had already finished it before. Afterwards, they ran into Nagito, who had been around gathering everyone who were characters in the game looking for clues. In a way, it was better for him if everyone got caught up in the game and what it represented. After all, it just meant a distraction for him. Chiaki suggested checking Mahiru's cottage, effectively finding the files with the real photos and getting caught up with them. How come everything was playing out exactly how he thought it would? He couldn't be so good at predicting others.

The investigation was finally over, and everyone gathered around Monokuma Rock to go to the dreaded Class Trial. Everyone seemed troubled and there wasn't much chatting among the students. Nagito smiled at him as soon as they crossed gazes and he hurried to turn away, looking at his shoes. This was the most important step. He couldn't let himself be caught. The people who were the most dangerous to him were Chiaki and Nagito. He didn't have to worry so much about the others turning against him. After all, he had done most of the work in the first trial, which meant they would respect him. At least, he hoped they would.  
Once in the nosy elevator, going down to the depths of Earth itself, Hajime tried to calm down. He was so close to going out, he couldn't hesitate. He couldn't afford it. He had to stay calm. He had to drive everyone in the wrong direction. He still had to talk as much as in the first trial and avoid abnormal behavior. If he did that, everything would be fine.

The elevator stopped and the doors cranked open. This was the most important trial for him. It was his life, or everyone else's, and he had decided to be selfish.


	2. Mistake

"Let's begin with a basic explanation of the class trial!" Monokuma was starting with the same speech he came up with the last time. The setting was fundamentally the same, although he had decided to change the drapes to give them a more tropical feeling. Monomi was hanging from a pole, tied up again, and complaining about how cruel Monokuma was. "Now then, let's first discuss the motive!" he said after he was done with his introduction. "That masterpiece of gaming: Twilight Syndrome Murder Case!" he cheered. It wasn't a bad place to start. If anything, focusing on the motive was just an advantage for Hajime.

"I believed this duel was to unmask the murderer among us." Gundham remarked in a cold tone. "This is about determining who took Mahiru's life."

"We shouldn't ignore it. After all, the game is the motive of this case." Nagito interrupted, although he seemed to be deep in thought.

"You're right... We should discuss that first." Chiaki agreed. "So... the events in the game are based on something that happened in real life."

"Wait, what? I haven't played it!" Kazuichi clammed up in a hurry. "Could you slow down a little?". Considering who he was, he probably hadn't, or had gotten stuck in the bad ending.

The discussion evolved quickly and according to what he had planned. One by one, he helped everyone to put together the incident. Mikan, Hiyoko, Ibuki, Mahiru and Girl E. How they found the corpse of Fuyuhiko's sister. How Mahiru covered up for Girl E, the murderer. How Fuyuhiko found out and killed Girl E... and it quickly lead to where he wanted.

"That means, that if Fuyuhiko is Guy F, he killed both Girl E and Mahiru because she covered up for her!" Hiyoko was the first one to accuse him. "He's criminal scum, a menace to society! Of course he could do it!"

"Tch... Accuse me all you want. I didn't do it." he didn't exactly defend himself, only crossed his arms and looked away from everyone.

"But maybe Mahiru's murder and the game are unrelated" Peko intervened with a wild guess, considering she had a hand almost on top of her mouth.

"No, that's not it. Mahiru was killed with a blow to the head from a metal bat, and it was the same for Girl E." Hajime talked back. "We can't ignore this fact."

"He wanted to kill her the same way he killed the other girl. That much is obvious!" Hiyoko kept getting worked up, her face turning red. "You should confess already. We already know you killer her!"

"Okay, cut that shit out! First of all, you have no proof against me!" Fuyuhiko snapped at her.

"Actually..." Nagito's voice somehow managed to get between the bickering. "There's proof that Fuyuhiko may be involved. Look at this letter I found in his mailbox". He produced a piece of paper from his pocket and showed it to the group. "We need to meet and talk about the game. It's important. Meet me in the beach house today at 2PM. Let's not talk in person about this, or tell anyone else. Mahiru." he read it out loud to the others, then looked at the Ultimate Yakuza in the eye. "Well?"

"What the fuck is that?!" he spat out, lifting up a fist. "I had never seen that letter before!"

"It makes sense you haven't seen it. It was inside your mailbox, after all." Nagito kept on a faint smile on his face as he played with the letter with his fingers. However, Hajime froze up as he heard those words. For a moment, he thought he was going to help him. Why did he have to mention it?

"He could have just read it and then place it back so he could claim he didn't! He had a reason to kill her!" Hiyoko insisted, angrily shaking her arms as if the gesture helped her prove her point. Tears were starting to form in the corners of her swollen eyes. Hajime relaxed. He didn't have to make the accusations, as she would do it for him.

"But, I found something else." Nagito kept up. He put back the letter in his pocket and pulled out a different paper, which looked like it had been ripped and put together again with tape. "It took me a while to reconstruct it... any of you would have been faster, but I saw it first. This letter is from Fuyuhiko!" he announced. Hajime went visibly paler than he would have liked. He would have gotten rid of it in some other way, but littering was prohibited in the island and he had no time to burn it.

"Give me that!" Fuyuhiko stretched out a hand and looked at Nagito, clenching his teeth and visibly furious. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, but handed it over. The smaller boy read it silently for a few seconds before holding it out for everyone to see. "This isn't my fucking handwriting. I can prove it."

"It's not that hard to change up your handwriting!" Hiyoko yelled at him, pointing with an accusing finger.

"Wait... both of the letters say the same thing. It's just the signature what's different." Peko observed, her brows furrowing together. She could read it easily from her position in the circle. "I think this is starting to turn clearer: someone is trying to frame Fuyuhiko using the game as an excuse."

"I suppose you don't have to believe me when I tell you this but..." Nagito was still running his mouth. Hajime had turned completely silent. His strategy was going down sooner than he thought, and he had no good reason to shut him up. "When I came out of the old building, after Monomi untied me... I saw someone coming out of Mahiru's cottage. That person was Hajime."

Everyone's eyes were on him. His heart began to furiously beat against his chest as he felt cold sweat run down his spine. It wasn't too late yet, though. Nobody trusted Nagito, after all. "Why would I be there?" he asked him angrily. "I came out of my cottage as the announcement played and began to look around for what had happened."

"How about we compare your handwriting to the letters, then?" Chiaki suddenly spoke up, of all people. "That should clear you out of suspicion... I think." 

Hajime knew it wasn't so easy to alter your handwriting, no matter what Hiyoko had claimed before. He had experienced it for himself when he was writing them. Maybe change a few characters at best, write in cursive or smaller, but a person could only do so much if they weren't an expert. He soon noticed he had both no reason to refuse and he would quickly be caught if he lied. He quickly tried to make up an excuse, anything. "F-fine... I wrote them both." he confessed. Everyone seemed surprised, even Chiaki, who had asked him to do it in the first place. "I did it because... I talked with Mahiru the day before. She told me she wanted to meet with Fuyuhiko but she was scared. I didn't understand why because I hadn't played the true ending of the game but I did what she told me to. That's why I suspected him." He explained in a shaky voice. Was he hesitating too much again? He wasn't sure, but this wasn't part of the plan. He had gone straight to improvising just because he hadn't noticed Nagito had seen him come out of Mahiru's cottage. Curse his luck.

"I never read that letter! It wasn't even there this morning. When did you put it there?" Fuyuhiko asked. Instead of angry, he appeared legitimately confused.

"I put it there this morning. I'm sure of it." he responded, this time sounding more confident.

"Does this mean Mahiru had played the game?" Peko asked this time. She had folded her arms and stood firm, her piercing red eyes fixing on Hajime.

"When I went to her cottage to investigate, she had a folder with pictures on her desk. It was probably the prize for being the first one to finish the game. The pictures we all agreed on that were real, so the real incident happened." Chiaki said. They had gone over it before, when talking about the mystery of the game.

"Instead of talking about why Mahiru would have resorted to him... why don't we try to remember where Hajime has been this morning?" Nagito talked again, completely ignoring Hajime's excuse. It seemed he had seen past it.

"Please wait!" Sonia spoke up for the first time in the trial. "We shouldn't be so hasty to accuse him!"

"I'll back down if he has an alibi for the time of Mahiru's death. According to the Monokuma file, it was around 2PM when she died. Where was he at the time?" Nagito brushed her off as well and insisted on getting his point across. This time, he seemed to succeed at it.

"Oh! I saw him around half an hour later, now that I remember." Kazuichi seemed even surprised with himself when he spoke. He was nervously scratching his head through his beanie. "He was coming from the beach in the second island... wait. That's where the beach house is." he directed his gaze at Hajime, his words dying in his mouth before finishing the phrase. "Don't tell me you're..."

"I never entered the beach house!" Hajime said in a hurry, looking increasingly nervous.

"But... Fuyuhiko was the one with a motive! He wanted to kill her because of what happened in the game! And Hajime said he was helping Mahiru! I don't believe he would be able to do that!" Hiyoko lifted her voice again, threatening to start crying. 

"Allow me to tell you what really happened." Gundham's voice rose, a thin smirk on his face. "Hajime lured out Mahiru with a fake letter to the beach house, where he ended her life with a blow as quick as lightning itself! He used the letter again in a futile attempt to frame Fuyuhiko!" he ended his dramatic speech by widely gesturing with his hands and then pointing to Hajime. "Well? What do you have to say in your defense, fiend?"

"Eh... I..." Hajime tried to scramble for words, but he couldn't get his brain to think of anything. He had no way to conveniently explain what happened. He still tried. "You said you saw me there half an hour later than that, Kazuichi. If I had killed her, why would I have spent there so much time?"

"What? I don't know! Maybe you just waited for a while so you could say that! You said you were sunbathing, right?" Kazuichi seemed confused again. In a way, he didn't want to face the facts. He considered him a friend. Someone unable to kill another friend in order to get out of the island.

"Such a method to kill is very messy. You would have gotten some blood on you no matter what. Maybe he spent that time trying to clean himself." Peko suggested. She seemed to be well aware of this, for some reason.

"The shower of the beach house is out of order. There's no way I could have done that." Hajime fought back, having finally found a way to slip out of the problem.

"Kazuichi, could you tell us what Hajime looked like when you saw him?" Chiaki asked. Although she looked as drowsy as ever, Hajime wished she would just have fallen asleep instead.

"He was just wearing a swimsuit and holding his clothes on his hands. What's wrong with that?"

"He simply took them off after they got dirty in the attack. How awful, Hajime." Nagito correctly guessed. "Besides, there were no footprints in the sand. You were never at the beach anyhow... If only you had talked with me instead, this mystery would have been a lot better." he looked disappointed.

"What the hell?!" Hajime's voice grew louder. "Why do you keep suspecting me?! I would never do something like that!" his hands clenched into fists as he looked at Nagito, growing desperate. He couldn't see a way out. He had basically lost at this point, but he wouldn't go down without a fight. He stared at the other's green eyes, waiting for an answer which wouldn't come. "Hiyoko... Kazuichi... don't tell me you guys doubt me too..."

"I wish I didn't, but..." the mechanic mumbled, uncomfortable. "But Nagito and Chiaki have a point..."

"Bastard... I get it now." a hiss from Fuyuhiko was also directed at him. "You kept talking until you framed me, then shut your mouth immediately after, knowing Hiyoko would accuse me... But I don't think anyone doubts it now. I'm voting against him."

Peko looked up to everyone who remained silent. "Is anyone else still doubting him? I'm convinced myself, but it's better to make it unanimous."

Everyone started looking at each other. It certainly wasn't like the first trial, in which Teruteru was defeated beyond doubt. In this case, all they had was Hajime's nonsensical alibi and Nagito's testimony. However, it seemed to be enough, as nobody raised to defend him. Hajime was alone.

"May we start the vote?" Sonia asked Monokuma. Her voice sounded distressed.

"What's wrong? Aren't you happy you've closed the case? But okay! Please pull the lever in front of you to cast your vote!" Monokuma announced, getting up from his seat. His expression made it hard to tell, but he seemed amused with the result, given his constant snickering. All of the discussion, accusations and yelling had completely become quiet. The only sound in the courtroom was Hajime's foot nervously tapping on the floor. He was deathly pale, trembling in fear, in anticipation for what he knew would come next. Still, he cast his vote too. For him, hours passed until everyone cast their votes and Monokuma noisily voiced the result.

"Congratulations! You've gotten it right again! That's it. The blackened this time was none other than Hajime Hinata!" The bear laughed maniacally as his classmates' eyes set on him again. "Did you seriously vote for yourself too? I suppose you knew you were done for!" He mocked him, laughing again.

He was, once more, looking at his shoes to avoid breaking down. When he dared to lift his head up, he looked at Chiaki. She looked... disappointed. That's it. He had disappointed everyone by giving up and killing someone. "I'm... sorry." he pleaded in a low voice. "I hesitated. I kept hesitating. I believed I would end up not doing it. Not being brave enough to grab the bat... but..." he covered his face with a hand. At least, he would try to not cry or make this any more embarrassing. Die with some dignity. "I really wanted to go home. I couldn't take it anymore..."

"What a pity." Nagito's voice crept over him. Why did he sound so disappointed? "Really... as much as you say that you wanted to leave, the only reason why I decided to not help you was because I noticed that." Hajime looked up to him, confused and angry in equal parts. "You didn't do it because you had the hope of going back home. You did it because you felt despair! How could I help a murderer like that?" He had moved from his place in the circle, as everyone else, and was walking towards him.

"You..." Hajime slowly felt anger take over him. His emotions were a mess. After all, his death was already set in stone. "If it weren't for you... I could have left..."

"How scary..." Nagito mocked him. "All of us would have died. Knowing how you are right now, you would just have felt more despair when that happened. That's not what I stand for at all! Really, for symbols of hope like you guys, such an end didn't fit you. But now?" he directed himself to everyone else, smiling brightly. "Now you just have to move on from this horrible despair! Use it to step up even higher and shine even brighter! And you should be happy, Hajime! You'll get to be part of their ascension, be their stepping stone towards a bright f--"

Hajime hed enough. He interrupted him by knocking him down with a well aimed punch to the jaw. He was shaking in fear, but Nagito had managed to make him channel some of it into anger. As soon as he did so, however, he felt even worse. Mikan yelled and ran to help the Lucky Student after he fell down, which made him straight up feel like garbage. 

"Okay, that's enough! You don't need to go beat everyone up because you're mad!" Monokuma's voice made him snap out of the moment. He was seemingly stepping on Monomi's face, who hadn't stopped complaining since the voting started. Somehow, Hajime had managed to block her words out of his mind. "For Hajime Hinata, I've prepared a very, beary special punishment! It's actually so special... that I had been looking forward for him to get executed!"

"You can't! You absolutely can't!" Monomi cried out. She was insisting and begging vehemently, but Monokuma only sneered at her.

"Wait!" Hajime yelled. His voice was starting to crack. "What do you mean? Why were you looking forward to something like this?" He rubbed his eyes furiously, somehow trying not to cry. His mind could only remind him that he was about to die. He was going to die because he had been too clumsy at killing someone. Maybe... maybe this was justice.  
The thought didn't ease his mind at all, although it was the truth. He didn't want to die.

Monokuma laughed again. Mocking, mad and amused. "Let's give it everything we've got! It's punishment time!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, yeah, the case isn't very complex. Too clumsy, but that was the point.
> 
> On another note, I'm very happy to see people reading this, as I really didn't expect it! I'll try to work on this as often as I can.


	3. Exchange

The execution the students were forced to watch was confusing. Hajime had been strapped down to a chair, his body trembling like a leaf in anticipation. His eyes shot in all directions, trying to catch a glance of what was happening. A blackboard at a side had crude drawings of brains and skulls on it, as well as the words "Hajime's Amazing Transformation" written in big, chunky letters. Monokuma appeared, gleefully carrying an excessively large saw and rushing towards him. For some reason, another Monokuma showed up and blocked their view with a hospital screen and began dancing in front of it. As if censoring his own show because he felt like it, although horrible noises were coming from the scene he was blocking. Barely a few seconds later, the screen was removed. The chair was torn and nearly destroyed, covered in blood, and Hajime was nowhere to be seen. 

"What the... hell was that?" Kazuichi was the first one to speak. His opinion was silently shared by everyone in the room, but they couldn't get much of a rest. Soon, Monokuma popped out of nowhere again, sitting on his small chair from which he watched the trials unfold.

"Extreme!" he yelled. Some of the students gasped and turned towards him. "Hahaha! Nothing like an execution to get adrenaline pumping, but we're not done yet here!" He jumped out from the chair, and wobbled towards the students. "After all, it was arranged to get you a replacement for him! Consider him as if he had been erased. Someone else has now his chance to play!"

"No, no no!" Monomi complained, tears somehow streaming from her button-like eyes. "You can't do that! I won't allow you to do that!". She did a lot of talk for someone hanging from the ceiling.

"Anyway!" Monokuma ignored her and carried on. "This was arranged when our little trip started and I felt bad for him. Evil Monomi had him trapped from the start and I told him to pick someone, and if that person died, he would replace them! You could say he got lucky!"

"He bet on Hajime to die?..." Sonia wondered out loud. "Just who is this person you're speaking of?"

"Why don't we let him introduce himself?" the bear responded, then laughed softly. The door of the elevator they had taken to arrive suddenly opened again.

With slow steps, a person emerged from the darkness of the cabin: a tall, slim boy wearing a black suit. Nevertheless, what was more noticeable for everyone was his incredibly long hair. It reached almost his ankles and partly covered his face. Red eyes peered from under the bangs, which only added to his eerie appearance. His face was void of any kind of expression. It was hard to tell if he was sickly pale or if the combination of his black hair and his eyes created such an effect. "My name is Izuru Kamukura." His voice sounded absent, uninterested, although he was taking in the student's faces one by one. After he was done, he looked at Monokuma with the same expression he had since he entered the room. "Nice to meet you."

"This evil aura!..." Gundham reacted by taking a step back, clearly shaken. "Even the Four Dark Devas of Destruction cower in fear... What kind of dark power do you possess?" His hamsters had hurried to hide inside his scarf as their master rambled.

"What the fuck are you talking about? He just looks weird." Fuyuhiko acted cool, but he was showing surprise just before Gundham spoke. However, Izuru didn't say a word. His expression didn't change in the slightest.

"Well, I'm off. You can go back and rest for the long, long day you've had!" Monokuma interrupted them again. He had undone the knot keeping Monomi tied up while they weren't looking. "By the way, Izuru, you'll know where your cottage is. You have one!" he told the newcomer, but didn't stand around to wait for a response and simply disappeared behind his chair.

After an awkward moment of silence, everyone began to step in the elevator, one by one. Some of them tried to avoid looking at Izuru, while others glared in suspicion. Akane was the first one to talk to him, maybe because she hadn't completely understood the situation.

"So, what's your deal?" she asked him nonchalantly. "Where have you been hiding all this time?"

Izuru took a moment to answer, but he didn't look surprised by her questions or her tone. "I've always been in the same place since we got here. I couldn't get out." he answered, although it only created more questions. He considered she wouldn't ask him anything else, as he turned around and stepped back in the elevator with the others. They were obviously keeping a small distance from him, partly because of his appearance and mostly because of the situation in which he had appeared. Nobody said another word until they reached the surface.

The trial hadn't lasted for too long and the sun shone brightly in a clear sky. Izuru shielded his eyes, not used to the direct light. He began to slowly walk towards the hotel site in the first island, as if he knew the island's distribution already, which he did. He had learned about the students and saw how the islands were during the time he spent trapped. He suspected the place he had been forced to stay had been none other than Monomi's personal house. After all, the bed was littered with monitors and all the furniture was either white or pink. Furthermore, Monomi frequently came to check on him. As he walked, he checked his new e-handbook. Monokuma had given it to him just before the trial started. He probably predicted Hajime wouldn't be able to make it. A logical conclusion, considering the circumstances. The screen displayed his name, along with a picture of him and the title Hope's Peak had given him. There was a tab with a map of the islands,another with the rules, and another with profiles of all the students. Hajime's was nowhere to be seen, although the dead students were still displayed. Monokuma wasn't kidding around when he said he had erased him.

He wasn't surprised to find out his cottage was the one Hajime had before he died. He had simply changed the picture in the mailbox, now displaying a pixel caricature of his face. He stepped inside only to have the thought confirmed to him. The room was empty, except for a small stand holding various dolls representing Monokuma, just as he had seen through the monitors. After locking the door behind him, he picked up the figures and threw them in the trash bin. He'd figure out what to do with them later.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Kazuichi's complains resonated in the hotel's restaurant. Everyone had unconsciously gathered there after the trial. Tired faces were sitting around a table to talk about their next step, as it was too early to just go to sleep.

"I like the new guy's hair." Ibuki commented, too relaxed for the situation. Maybe she was just choosing to focus on something else. "He could have pigtails!"

Nagito, who had been looking at his handbook, suddenly spoke up. "Have you seen his profile? Hajime's is gone and now his is there instead." He was smiling, although he still had a bruise on his cheek from when Hajime punched him.

"Really?" Sonia seemed surprised and took out her own device. "This is strange... Teruteru's profile is still here yet he was executed. Why is he treated differently?"

"Who cares? He deserved it." Hiyoko complained. She still seemed upset and seemed to have turned her grief to hatred. "He's nothing than pig barf who didn't deserve to live."

"Still, it's strange." Chiaki said in a low voice. "Izuru appeared out of nowhere and Monokuma made him take Hajime's place for no reason."

"His blood type is A... his likes and dislikes are blank, and his birthday too." Sonia read aloud from her handbook. "Ultimate Hope?..."

"What kind of title is that?" Akane replied. She was, of course, eating. This was probably the reason she came to the restaurant, although she was shaken too. "That's not a talent or anything. Just sounds like something Nagito would say."

"We can't avoid him forever and treat him as if he were an enemy." Peko said. She had been sitting during their conversation and seemed to have made up her mind. "Let's ask him about these things that bother us tomorrow."

"That's a great idea!" Nagito agreed, overly cheery. "If all of the Ultimates work together, there's nothing you can't reach." After saying those words, he got up and left the room. No matter what they had agreed on, the atmosphere in the room was still tense. One by one, everyone started to leave back to their cottages.

The next morning, everyone went back to the restaurant to find a sinister view. Someone had picked up a board, put the pictures Mahiru had taken before on it and surrounded it with candles, flowers and skulls. It felt like a macabre decoration. As people began to drop in, everyone got shocked by the sight without fail. Some screamed in horror, some were plain confused. Some even suggested it should be burned down, believing it to be a tasteless prank.  
It soon proved to be an misunderstanding. Chiaki pointed out someone had made it for Mahiru (and even took the time to scribble Hajime's face out of the pictures) but maybe they hadn't chosen the best decoration. Hiyoko began to cry shortly after, demeaning everyone for insulting her hard work. Just when they agreed to keep it and the mood was brightening, someone came inside the room.

Izuru knew already knew the students usually met in the restaurant all mornings, which meant he had to go there too. He had sorted out his strategy for the rest of the trip the previous afternoon in his cottage, or so he believed. As he predicted, everyone dropped what they were doing to look at him as soon as he stepped inside. However, he focused his attention in the ugly memorial Hiyoko had built, without saying anything.

"Hey Izuru!..." Kazuichi tried to sound casual, but he only managed to let out a nervous voice.

"So what's Ultimate Hope?" Akane was much more direct. It seemed she had noticed the newcomer preferred to cut to the chase. "It is like wishing things or... something?"

Izuru didn't move for a moment, apparently still focusing on the pictures, but then turned to face her. "It's just what Hope's Peak called me." he said in a low voice. He decided to simply sit down and grab some fruit to eat.

"Obviously." Fuyuhiko replied. Unlike others, he didn't seem to fear Izuru for his appearance. "We want to know what your talent is. And why your profile is almost empty."

"My talent is that I have many talents." Izuru replied, although he didn't say anything else.

"Explain it properly, bastard. And don't dodge questions!" Fuyuhiko argued, raising his voice with an authoritative tone.

"Or else what?" Izuru looked back at him. His eyes were expressionless, but intense. "You'll kill me? Is that what you want to say?"

Chiaki grabbed Fuyuhiko's arm before he could reply. "If he doesn't want to answer, there's no reason to force him." she said.

"Don't touch me." he shook her away, annoyed. "If you're going to let him do what he wants, I'm no part of this." he announced, then left the restaurant in an obvious bad mood.

Slowly, the remaining students either left after him or sat in different tables to eat. However, Chiaki chose to sit next to Izuru.

"I may have to follow the rules, but I'm only an observer." he told her, speaking for the first time unprompted. "I won't kill anyone, or help anyone."

She seemed surprised for a moment, but her expression softened after a moment. "What do you know exactly?" she asked in a whisper.

"I know who entered the program and who didn't." he replied in the same tone. "The fact that I'm not giving you away only proves my claim, doesn't it? Focus on everyone else."

For the first time, Chiaki felt conflicted. Monokuma should have never shown up in the first place, but Izuru's presence there only made things more complicated. How could she believe him? There was no way she could do it that easily. She wasn't sure if she should try to question him further, but at the same time, he didn't seem to even want to take an active role. If he were the kind of person she thought him to be, he could have easily killed everyone. Yet, he simply sat there, waiting for something.

She didn't know what to do, and this was new to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided to do weekly updates. That should give me time to write and keep a buffer of chapters for when I don't have the time.  
> I hope you like how this is coming along!


	4. Consensus

No matter how much he thought about it, Hajime's actions seemed juvenile and rushed to him. He got killed because of his poorly thought plan and his inability to lie. He certainly was an average boy and his efforts screamed it out. Izuru could not help but feel disappointed. He looked around the room he was in to find Chiaki still fidgeting by his side, although she had shuffled away from him. He had gotten lost in thought almost without noticing it. Still, he knew something was about to happen. He had already seen it through the monitors, and was certain it would become a pattern. As if she had been waiting for his mental signal, Monomi appeared out of nowhere, as she used to do. 

"Everyone! I have something to tell you!" she seemed happy enough to jump around the restaurant. Her excitement soon died after she noticed barely half of the students were present and nobody seemed to pay attention to her. "Hawawa! What's wrong? Where's everyone?"

"Um... They already left." Sonia replied. She was sitting with Hiyoko. Akane and Nekomaru were sitting together in another table, while Nagito was by himself. 

"Oh... and I had worked so hard for all of you!" Monomi complained. "I wanted to tell everyone together..."

"What do you mean by worked hard?" Nekomaru questioned her, getting up from the chair he was sitting on.

Those words seemed to cheer her on, as she proudly posed in a superhero stance. "I defeated another Monobeast! That should count as working hard, shouldn't it?"

"Does that mean we can go to another island?" Nagito asked.

"That's right!" Monomi nodded vigorously. "And now you can live there happily and peacefully, ignoring Monokuma... not thinking about leaving..."

"Can I ask you a question first?" Sonia said, walking up to the bunny. "Monokuma said you were hiding Izuru all this time. Is that true?"

"Ummm..." The question caught her by surprise, which was visible on her face. "I don't know what you're talking about... Sorry, I have to go!" and just a moment after, she was gone.

"She ran away again!" Akane got up as soon as Monomi left, but she wasn't nearly fast enough to catch her before she was out of sight. "Always running when it gets inconvenient!"

"We shouldn't trust her. She's with that World Ender organization, right?" Hiyoko sneered, placing her hands on her hips. "They put us here, so that makes her our enemy too!"

"That is true..." Sonia sighed. She looked back to where she believed Izuru to be, but he had simply vanished. "Huh? Where did Izuru go?"

"He left as soon as Monomi showed up." Chiaki said. She had feared he'd confront her, but he didn't seem interested and had just left in silence. 

"More importantly..." Nagito looked fairly troubled, his arms folded as he approached the group. "What should we do about the new island?" His usual smile returned as soon as he made his question. 

"We should tell everyone about it, at least." Nekomaru voiced his opinion, but Akane spoke over him.

"If Monomi can defeat those things, so can I! Why don't I just destroy all of them and go to all the islands?" she seemed itching for a fight, balling her hands into fists with a determined expression on her face.

"Hold on, Akane. Don't do anything reckless." the Ultimate Team Manager warned her with concern printed on his face.

After some discussion, they decided to go with Nekomaru's suggestion, but he stayed behind to watch over Akane. He didn't like the idea of her going alone in case she did something dangerous, which was understandable. Although they hadn't arranged to explore the new island together, everyone ended up visiting it. What moved them was curiosity and the need to look for anything of use to get out of Jabberwock Island.  
The third island was completely different from the others. The dense vegetation and modern buildings were nowhere to be seen. Instead, the landscape was of sand, tumbleweeds, ruined paths and run down old buildings. There was an old hospital with few rooms and supplies close to a shady motel with two floors and several rooms. To the east, a flashy, well-stocked music venue, just what Ibuki needed to cheer up. Furthermore, there was an electric town filled to the brim with old equipment. Lastly, there was a cinema. The students soon began to sniff around the buildings, searching for clues. The only thing they found was Monokuma forcing everyone who passed by the cinema to watch a horrible knock-off of The Wizard of Oz. It featured Monokuma as the main character, killing all of the supporting cast in succession.

Izuru ended up on the island as well, not showing much interest in anything and avoiding the students, but he did stop at the electric town. Something there called his attention: some laptops with battery. It screamed of bait so much he decided to wait and see if someone else would come by and fall for it instead. He didn't have to wait long for Kazuichi and Chiaki to show up.

"Jeez, you scared me!" he shouted, almost making a jump back. "How long have you been here?"

No response. Izuru was only looking at the laptops. As he expected, it only prompted Kazuichi to instantly focus his attention on them and attempt to start up the one closest to him.

"Ah. I was hoping we'd get internet connection..." he complained. Chiaki was looking at the screen over his shoulder. "Huh? What's this?"

They seemed like they were reading something with interest, but Izuru didn't move from where he was standing. From their expressions, he could tell Chiaki already knew the information displayed. Kazuichi didn't and found it shocking. After around a minute, the boy simply lost his patience and stood up again.

"What is this? Riots? Terrorism? There's no way that's true!" he looked over to Izuru. "Have you read that? Do you know anything about this?"

Again, no response. He turned his back on him and left the area. Chiaki finished reading the file while the other boy was making a fuss over Izuru's attitude.

"Do you think all of this is true?..." she asked. "Maybe we should tell the others about it." she picked up the laptop and placed it back on the pile, turning it off but leaving it open.

"I don't know. It makes no sense..." he complained. "Do you think that guy has anything to do with this? He looks seriously shady." 

At the end, they agreed on telling everyone else, as there wasn't much else to see on the island, but they ended up meeting back at the restaurant. Surprisingly, everyone had gathered there, including Izuru. They were sitting together in a single table, while Izuru had taken a seat in the corner and simply watched. He was making Chiaki nervous, but she was starting to doubt he'd somehow interfere with anyone. 

"We should share the information we've gathered about the new island." Sonia formally began their meeting, being the first to speak.

"There's a music venue!" Ibuki said, excited. 

"Sure, but that's not of any help." Nekomaru didn't seem as energetic as he usually was. "Did anyone find any information about the island, or how to get out?"

"Nothing. As always." Hiyoko complained.

"We found a file in a computer that was at the electric town." Chiaki said. "It spoke of... the destruction of Hope's Peak Academy."

"I found it too." Nagito commented, but he seemed annoyed talking about it. "It has to be a prank that Monokuma spun on us. I mean, there's no way it's gone."

"Destruction?" Gundham seemed interested. "The school had great prestige and power. How could such an empire fall?"

"Well..." Chiaki took a moment to reply. That's not how she would have described it. "The Reserve Course students revolted against the school because they said they weren't treated right. It somehow evolved to a world-scale conflict."

"What's this Reserve Course?" Peko seemed confused, but was trying to draw her own conclusions from it. "I suppose I should see the file for myself later."

"It's impossible that Hope's Peak Academy has been destroyed!" Nagito cut them out, clearly alarmed. "It can't happen so easily. I bet it's just something Monokuma made up to scare us."

"Fake or not, we should take it into consideration." Peko replied, still calm. 

"Well!" Akane suddenly interrupted their conversation. She had been eating all the time and hadn't been paying attention. "I'm full now, so I'll go do some training."

"Training? You always skip training." Nekomaru observed, suspicion clearly visible in his eyes.

"It's not like I can get stronger without it. Seeya." she replied before going downstairs and leaving the group.

"Anyway, we still have a bone to pick with the new guy." Fuyuhiko ignored Akane and looked to Izuru, who was still sitting far from everyone else. "Anyone would say he's just listening in. He appeared for no reason and doesn't want to talk. He could as well be just telling Monokuma everything we're saying."

"Why would I? He has the cameras. He knows what you're saying anyhow." Izuru responded to his provocation.

"We're not accusing you of spying but..." Sonia directed herself to him too. "If you talked to us, introduced yourself properly, maybe we could trust you better."

He stood in silence for a moment, his eyes fixed on Fuyuhiko. As soon as he noticed him frown, losing his patience, he replied. It almost looked like he was waiting for a reaction as his cue. "I don't intend to mingle with you. Still, what do you wish to know exactly?"

"Why did Hope's Peak call you Ultimate Hope?" Nagito was the first to take up his offer.

"I don't know why they chose that title. I imagine they equalled hope to talent. Everyone has a different definition for it. It's an abstract concept." he explained in a monotone. Either he had done it many times before, or he wasn't interested.

"But that's not all of what hope is. Of course, talent is needed, but there's also the outlook..." Nagito seemed almost confused. "Why would they choose such a name?"

"Like I said, everyone has their own definition." Izuru repeated.

"Okay, what are those talents you're supposed to have?" Kazuichi asked. The matter was probably in everyone's minds as well.

"It means that I will excel at everything I try to do. That's all." He hadn't moved in the entire conversation, only shifted his eyes to the person who last spoke to him.

"Where were you when this whole thing started?" Fuyuhiko asked next, barely waiting for him to finish talking.

"I woke up in a small house. I suppose it was Monomi's. I couldn't go out, but she frequently brought me food. I could watch the island through the monitors in the room." he replied, then got up from his seat. "I suppose that will be all. I have things to do." He said as he walked towards the stairs. Nobody stopped him.

"He's... kinda scary." Mikan commented in a hushed voice. "I don't think he's a b-bad person, though..."

"Shut up. I like you better when you're quiet." Hiyoko quickly told her in an angry tone.

"Ahh! I'm sorry!" she bowed in a panic. "I will speak less, I promise!" 

"We can't be sure that he's telling the truth, but we can't know if he's lying either." Fuyuhiko said, frowning.

"Why are you so interested in him?" Chiaki couldn't help but ask. After all, he barely showed up to their meetings in the restaurant until Mahiru's death, much less talk to other people. And yet, he accused Izuru of not talking to the others, just as he had been doing.

"Isn't he obviously weird? Monokuma must be using him to mess with us." he argued, unaware of the hidden question in Chiaki's words.

"That doesn't mean he's necessarily aware, or that he can go against him... In all senses, he's in the same situation as us." Sonia replied.

They agreed to leave the room after they were finished talking. The next day would be nothing special... unless Monokuma had more surprises in store for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm keeping my word of the weekly updates so far.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who is reading this! Every kudos, every comment warms my heart and pushes me to keep writing.


	5. Getting Along

The next day was surprisingly peaceful. They didn't have much to do, so after breakfast everyone went their separate ways. Some searched again the third island, mostly to see the file Chiaki had spoken about the previous day. Some preferred to spend their time in the other islands, which were more hospitable. Ibuki had taken as a personal mission to get Izuru to do something with her, insisting he would get along with the group whether he wanted it or not. Somehow, he ended up letting himself be dragged by her and even allowing her to put his hair in two enormous pigtails. 

"Oh? There's a scar all around your head." Ibuki observed as she was picking up long strands of black hair to pull up in a hair band. They were using the mirror at the storage room of the music venue so she could see better.

"I've always had it." he replied. He didn't seem annoyed at all, but he wasn't having fun either.

"Like Frankenstein? You could actually play in a metal band with that hair." she commented with a smile on her face and not meaning anything by it. 

"Sure." he said without any interest. He brought his hands up to his hair when she seemed to be done. "...I'm taking them off later." he said. Now he did seem slightly more annoyed.

After she made him play every instrument in the building, she finally decided to let him go and return to his cottage. Along the way, he bumped with Chiaki and Hiyoko, who were talking in hushed whispers close to the bridge leading to the cental island. The smaller girl noticed his change of appearance immediately and began to laugh.

"Look! He looks so stupid!" she mocked him, pointing and laughing.

"Why do you look like that?" Chiaki asked. Although she looked drowsy, he knew she was mostly surprised.

"Ibuki forced me." he simply stated. Afterwards, he didn't bother to even defend his looks and simply walked away towards the bridge.

"Maybe we could shave it all off while he sleeps." Hiyoko said. She was speaking loud enough for him to hear her, but he wasn't going to give in to her taunts. "I bet that would crack his stone face."

Chiaki had decided to visit him at night. He still made her uneasy and was unsure of his intentions, but what she saw when she bumped with him at the bridge confused her even further. She thought he wasn't going to mingle with anyone, yet he let Ibuki do what she wanted with him. She was thinking about it even when knocking on his door, which opened almost immediately after.

"I imagined you were coming." he simply said, stepping aside to let her in. His hair was wet and sticking on his forehead, loose again. Maybe Ibuki messing with it bothered him more than he let her see. Still, she walked inside as if it were a normal occurrence. He invited her with a gesture to take a seat on the bed, and he sat on an empty display reminding of steps. On a nearby trash can, she could see Monokuma figurines. She remembered Hajime picking up some of them around the island before he died.

"I wanted to ask you about your intentions again." she said, looking at him as firmly as she could. She was good at not looking nervous, but it wasn't intentional. She simply was sleepy and night time had almost arrived.

Izuru replied immediately after. "I will do nothing to stop murders from happening, but I won't provoke them either. I will attend the class trials, but I will remain silent during them." his reply sounded almost rehearsed, unnatural. "I realized that if I don't interact with you at all, you'll pay too much attention to me. That's all."

"That's why you hung out with Ibuki today?..." Chiaki wondered out loud. She didn't look completely convinced.

"More or less." he said. He fell silent after.

A few minutes passed in which the only sound they could hear was the waves crashing at the nearby beach. Chiaki was the first one to break it.

"I should leave. It's going to be night time soon." she said, getting up. Izuru opened the door for her and she silently walked back to her own cottage. She was still confused. Somehow, she found herself wanting to believe him, but she was well aware of what his presence represented. He was dangerous, no matter how she looked at it. Although she didn't know everything about him, she partly knew why everyone was brought to the island. Still, she was able to fall asleep easily, which was the only perk of her tendency to sleep almost anywhere.

The next morning, everyone seemed to feel slightly better. They were starting to get over the deaths they experienced, relying on one another in some way. Even Izuru found himself impressed at the display. Surprise felt strangely good, although he knew it wouldn't last long. After all, he knew exactly who was going to approach him. Ibuki had been proudly telling everyone about her adventures with him the previous day in the music venue. While most students seemed skeptic, it prompted a specific person to talk to him after breakfast.

"Izuru!" A voice called for him as he walked around the pool, back to his cottage. He stopped to turn towards the speaker. "I'm sorry. I'm getting ahead of myself and you don't have to accept but..." It was Nagito, apparently being humble around him. "Could we spend some time together today? If it's okay with you. I know I don't deserve to be around someone like you."

"I don't mind." he replied. He could see the other's eyes light up in excitement. Curiously enough, he had noticed he was the only person in the island who wasn't so different from the world outside. In fact, he was still the same person. He didn't need a big push to leap into the depths of despair willingly. 

They ended up at the library of the second island, where Nagito began to ask him superfluous questions, mostly about his interests and others inquiring about his talent. He responded to most of them with evasives, and he could see every word out of his mouth coming before he spoke. Nagito didn't seem bothered by his constant moving around to look for books, read the first few pages and put them back in the shelf. At some point, Izuru ran out of patience.

"What do you want exactly?" he asked, rather forcefully for his usual tone.

It seemed to startle Nagito, who went shy all of a sudden. Even he could tell such a reaction was out of character for him. "I just wanted to get to know you a little better. And maybe make an offer." a smile crept to his face. Izuru didn't react, holding a book on one hand. "Everyone else already knows this... but I'll gladly die for one of you to get out. Feel free to do it, but please, tell me first so we can arrange it well."

"I'm not interested." His reply was cold, his eyes fixed on the book. "I'm not planning on killing anyone, Nagito. You're wasting your breath."

"If you ever want to take it, I'm here." he said. He had a book himself, but hadn't even opened it and lay abandoned on top of one of the desks.

"I don't need to hear your reasons." Izuru put the book back on the shelf and began walking towards the door. He had a small idea of what was going on the boy's mind, but he had vowed to not interfere. The moment he stepped outside, he found himself reconsidering it. Maybe the decision he took the first day had been too rushed... which was a welcome change. He usually didn't have to retract on anything.

Chiaki had joined Ibuki and Mikan to do some shopping. Somehow, the idea of getting materials to craft small things had come up while talking at breakfast, and Ibuki practically roped in all the girls she could. Hiyoko had rejected her rudely and Peko had simply vanished. Akane had left early to train, or so Nekomaru said. He seemed concerned about her, but he didn't want to elaborate. What couldn't be denied was that the last days had been peaceful, but maybe too much. Monokuma had to be preparing something. As they decided to walk back to the hotel to start deciding what to do with the materials they had, Kazuichi appeared, sprinting towards them.

"Akane! Akane is-- Where the hell is Nekomaru?!" he was screaming in panic and breathing heavily. He had probably been running and screaming for a while, telling everyone he crossed paths with.

"What happened?" Mikan was almost afraid to ask. "D-Did something happen to her?..."

"No time! Second island!" he yelled and then left the building in a hurry and somehow faster than he had gotten in.

She convinced the girls with her to go see what was happening, who agreed out of concern but she tried to calm them down. Once they arrived to the second island, they witnessed an unusual sight in front of the ancient ruin they found when they first got there. Some other people have already arrived, such as Nagito and Gundham, who stared in disbelief.

Two figures were leaping through the air, exchanging blows almost too fast for the eye to catch. After some seconds, they stopped. One of them had a knee on the floor, panting heavily.

"Why are you getting in my way?" Akane asked, catching her breath and standing up again.

Izuru didn't seem tired. His hair was messier than normal and he took a moment to pull it back from his field of view. "If you can't get past me, you stand no chance against Monokuma." he said. "Do you still intend to keep this up?"

"Of course." Akane prepared herself, stepping forward. "After all, you turned out to be his ally."

"I'm only preventing you from breaking the rules." he merely stated. His stance wasn't any different than any other time, but he was alert. Akane had potential as a fighter and was fast, but two days of training couldn't give her the technique she lacked. Still, he knew he wouldn't be able to convince her. He was merely stalling for time. He didn't move when Akane leaped towards him, chaining kicks and jabs one after another, flowing in a quick, yet predictable succession. He had given up on fighting back and limited himself to avoiding her attacks, moving only the minimum necessary for her to miss and fire her up further.

"Akane! You fool, what are you doing?!" Nekomaru's voice echoed through the whole area. He had finally arrived after Kazuichi found him and he didn't look happy. "No, what are you two doing?"

She indubitably had to keep on working her technique. The manager's words startled her and interrupted her attack. Her distraction was a good enough window for Izuru to quickly step behind her and land a blow to the base of her skull, making her pass out instantly. As if he had done nothing at all, he directed himself to Nekomaru. "She planned to fight Monokuma. You know what would have happened if she had done so. Talk some sense into her."

"Dammit... I shouldn't have left her alone!" he looked ashamed of himself. It seemed he was taking it personally, and Izuru certainly counted on it. "We can't defy Monokuma like that. She would have died if she had fought him!"

"I know." he simply said, walking towards the students who had been watching, but too shocked to try and interfere.

"What happened here?!" Monomi's voice came out of nowhere and she was soon rushing towards Akane, but stopped in front of Izuru. "Excessive violence is prohibited! You can't fight like that!" She was quick to accuse him, somehow figuring out for once what had happened.

"It was training. None of us are hurt." he replied, as calm as ever. He didn't listen to any other objections as he left the area. Nobody felt like saying anything to him either way. The only voice heard, aside from Monomi panicking, was Nagito whispering to himself about how amazing Izuru's talent was. Peko was the first one to finally react and walk up to Nekomaru, who was carrying Akane on his arms.

"Is she okay?" she asked. A quick look at her was enough to confirm she had no external injuries, but Izuru's movements had been so fast she hadn't caught on on what he had done.

"She's just knocked out. I'll take her to her cottage and talk to her." Nekomaru replied. "I don't know what you think about him, but Akane owes him one. If he hadn't stopped her, Monokuma would have killed her."

"Do you seriously trust him?..." she didn't seem convinced.

"He's one of us now. That means we should work together, I think." Chiaki spoke up. She surprised herself by defending him. She believed she wasn't sure of what to think about him yet, but it seemed this had changed her mind, as did Nekomaru's. He had avoided a pointless death, but at the same time he had contradicted what he told her on the first day. He said he wouldn't help anyone, or interfere at all. Was he lying, or had he changed his mind?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slight delay in this week's chapter! I had to revise for an exam.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who somehow keeps following this! I love you all...


	6. Reverses

The next morning, people began to arrive to the restaurant one by one, slowly. Izuru was the first to arrive, and was sitting in what he had seemed to take as his personal corner. Over the last few days, most students had gotten used to it. When Fuyuhiko stepped inside with a smile plastered on his face, he knew something was wrong.

"Good morning! It's a great day outside, don't you think?" he greeted everyone. He was loud and cheerful, grinning from ear to ear.

"Geez, what's gotten into you?" Hiyoko frowned, looking at the boy in disbelief. 

"Watch out, guys!" Nagito came running up the stairs and almost hit himself against a wall. "Nekomaru has been replaced with a superpowered robot!" he accused for no reason.

"That's a great joke! I didn't know you were also the Ultimate Comedian!" Fuyuhiko just smiled at him.

"Fuyuhiko?" Peko seemed dumbfounded and got up from her chair. "What happened?"

"May I have your attention?" Another person came inside, Ibuki. "I would like to say my morning greetings." She announced, then bowed politely. "Good morning! Let's all do our best today!"

"Very funny, guys..." Kazuichi groaned at the trio. "Seriously, just drop it already."

"Ibuki! Be careful, I have proof Kazuichi plans to eat you!" Nagito spoke up again.

"Oh!" She turned to face the mechanic and bowed. "Sir, I would appreciate it if you didn't eat me!"

"What the hell? He's lying!" Kazuichi seemed both angry and in panic, probably considering hitting Nagito with something.

"Oh, I see! Then I don't need to plead for my life!" she responded.

"Of course, nobody would do something so horrible here... We're all friends!" Fuyuhiko approached Ibuki. "We should just relax and enjoy our vacation here."

"Everyone! P-please, listen!" Mikan climbed up the stairs in a hurry. "Ibuki... has a really strong fever. That must be why she's acting like that..."

"A fever?" Peko was the first one to react. "Fuyuhiko, may I touch your forehead?" Of course, he accepted gladly. "He's burning up!" she said, alarmed as soon as she put her hand on it. "This isn't a normal fever!" Just to be sure, she checked on Ibuki as well, but found the same result.

"So all three of them have a fever and that's why they're speaking nonsense?" Hiyoko wondered. Nobody had checked on Nagito, but he kept blurting out ridiculous lies, which was enough to convince them.

"Oh, how terrible!" Monokuma's voice startled the group. He had appeared at the restaurant with them at some point. "I suppose I should explain!"

"Wait a moment!" Monomi had appeared too. "This is your doing again! Haven't you done enough?" she confronted Monokuma, waving her little arms in the air.

Monokuma somehow punched her away, shooting her out of the building at a ridiculous speed with a single hit. "Anyway, let's get to the point. This is my new motive for you guys!"

"A fever is your motive?" Izuru spoke, who hadn't moved from his seat yet. He didn't sound either intrigued or disappointed.

"Yep! It's the Despair Disease! You see, there are tiny insects in this island that can inflict the disease!" Monokuma began to explain.

"I-I had never heard of a disease with such a name..." Mikan complained in a whimper. She seemed like she was going to object, but Hiyoko forced her to close her mouth by insulting her.

"It induces high fever along with various despair-inducing symptoms that vary in every person." he continued. "For example, Nagito seems to have the Liar Disease. Fuyuhiko has the Positivity Disease and Ibuki... it seems like the Gullible Disease." 

"I see! I will pray so I will get better soon." Ibuki seemed to have been listening, although she didn't look too concerned about her own safety.

"Be careful! The disease is airborne and it can spread to the rest of you." Monokuma warned, holding back a chuckle. "What will happen if you all come down with it?"

"It's contagious?!" Sonia seemed shocked.

"We have to get out of here! I don't want to catch some weird fever!" Hiyoko panicked as well.

"How is this supposed to be a motive?" Chiaki seemed to keep her cool and directed herself to Monokuma instead. "How would something like this drive others to murder?"

"Well, I got bored of explaining. You have to figure the rest out by yourselves." Monokuma shrugged in apparent carelessness, but immediately after, he began to laugh. "What will happen now? What kind of murder awaits us? I can't contain my excitement!" Soon enough, he was gone, like he always did.

"Don't worry, guys. It can't be that bad. We'll be fine for sure." Fuyuhiko was the first one to break the silence with a smile and kind words, which was making everyone uncomfortable.

"I sure am feeling good today! This disease is amazing!" Nagito rambled. Izuru finally decided to get up from his seat and walk towards the group, but Nagito began to talk after seeing him. "All of you guys should get this too! We will just sit down and die! Die, die! D... die..."

He immediately collapsed after saying those words. Izuru caught him and dropped him on the floor more gently. "I saw that coming. He's the one who looks worse." he justified himself. Mikan was more concerned about Nagito's status, running towards him.

"We have... We have to do something about this." she said in a shrill voice. She was obviously panicking, as well as half of the students. "H-he's not reacting. We have to take him to the hospital!"

After some arguing, they agreed to go to the hospital on the third island and keep everyone affected in separate rooms. Mikan insisted on taking care of them by taking them to their rooms and convincing them to stay. Meanwhile, the rest waited at the lobby.

"We have to decide what to do about this." Hiyoko seemed to have taken charge, as she didn't consider any of the boys focused enough. "We have to keep the disease from spreading."

"Do you, by chance, mean to quarantine them?" Gundham asked. "If we keep them in the hospital, it should be a good enough measure."

"But we can't just leave them there. Someone has to take care of them!" Nekomaru seemed to be the one most concerned about the sick. "With a fever so high, they could die!"

"Mikan can do that. She's been touching them, so she probably has it already." Hiyoko said, with more than a hint of malice in her voice.

"I will stay too." Peko intervened. "After all, I touched Fuyuhiko too. Mikan can't be all alone."

"Oh, that's right. You could have it too." Hiyoko realized. "Okay, that should do it!"

"We should think of a way to communicate... and also be close by in case something happens." Gundham suggested. A smirk spread on his face, as he was probably aware he was the one coming up with a plan for once. "There's a motel on this island. We shall stay there for the time being."

"What? Why do I have to sleep in a dirty place like that?" Hiyoko complained, frowning.

"If the worse happens, we have to quickly react." he responded. "Besides, it's possible the hotel in the first island is already contaminated."

"Okay, I'll try to find a way we can communicate..." Kazuichi mumbled. He didn't seem to completely agree. "Still, there's something bugging me." his expression seemed to harden as he looked at Izuru. "Him. I'm not sure he's not working with Monokuma yet."

"Hey, you idiot." Akane reacted angrily. "I think he's proved enough that he's on our side." Nekomaru had managed to convince her the previous day to desist on her attempt to challenge Monokuma. At least for now. His words, and her fight with Izuru, had made her realize she still had a lot to learn. Still, her interest had shifted to try and defeat Izuru before attacking the Headmaster.

"What do you want me to do?" Izuru asked in a flat tone, ignoring Akane's defense. He was sitting in one of the chairs of the lobby, away from everyone again.

"He touched Nagito, too! He's staying. Maybe he has it." Hiyoko defended the idea. "Besides, he's a weirdo and untrustworthy. If someone dies, it'll probably be his doing."

"Don't you think you're being too harsh on him?" Nekomaru joined Akane to defend him.

"It's fine. I'll stay." Izuru got up from the chair, expression unchanged. 

"We'll find a way to cure it while you're here, I think." Chiaki said. She had been deep in thought for most of the exchange, but she seemed to have sorted out her ideas.

"Fine. I'll also keep an eye on Izuru if you're concerned about him." Peko remarked, folding her arms. 

And so, they agreed to divide in two groups. Fuyuhiko, Ibuki and Nagito were sick. Mikan, Peko and Izuru helped in the hospital. Everyone else would stay at the motel, which wasn't far from the hospital. Once everyone left, Peko explained the situation to Mikan, who was more worried about the sick than anything else. A few hours later, Mikan had forced Izuru by constant nagging to visit the conscious patients in rounds, mostly to keep them from running off. Peko had decided to follow him around to ensure he wasn't doing anything suspicious.

"Oh, it's you! I wish it could have been anyone else but you..." Nagito was complaining from his bed the moment the door opened. He had regained consciousness, but he didn't seem able to move and his voice sounded weak.

"Does he have a fixation on you?" Peko asked. She had been trying, unsuccessfully, to make small talk with the boy during the rounds. She expected to meet the same lack of response as in all of her previous attempts.

"Maybe. What is it to you?" Izuru spoke for the first time in hours as he swapped the towel on Nagito's forehead for a cold one. "I thought you all hated him." 

"You said you watched through the monitors too, so you should know our reasons for not trusting him." Peko said, recalling correctly his claims.

"Are you trying to imply I made a plan with him?" There was a hint of amusement in his voice. "Have I, Nagito?"

"Of course..." He said in a raspy tone. "We can do it whenever you're ready. I'll get the charcoal."

"As you can see, you're wasting your time suspecting me." Izuru walked towards the door. He found himself wondering why he was bothering to correct her in the first place.

As hours passed, Peko eventually forced Mikan and Izuru to work in turns, with her always watching the male out of suspicion. At some point in one of their turns, someone walked inside the lobby and called them over. Mikan took this as a signal to start her turn again, while the pair went to the lobby. Kazuichi was waiting with a package on his hands.

"Oh, hey! Look what I've got." he said. He was ignoring Izuru on purpose, not even making eye contact as he handed the package to Peko. She opened it to reveal a camera and monitor set. "I found this in the alley with the electronic shops. I tinkered with it a bit... and now it works as video chat!"

"So now we can communicate without being on the same place." Peko assumed. She walked to the reception counter and left the monitor there, setting the camera close by. 

"It normally displays what the camera gets on the monitor, so what I did was get two sets and swap the cameras, also enhance the signal." Kazuichi explained. "Good, huh? It was about time for the Ultimate Mechanic to shine!" he boasted with a grin on his face.

"Even if you enhanced the signal, can it reach the motel? It looks like it's meant for home use..." Izuru intervened for once. He was asking a legitimate question, but it didn't keep the other from frowning.

"Well... no." he seemed bummed out. "It can only reach the music venue, but it's better than nothing at all."

"Then, how are we going to contact each other if there's an emergency?" Peko asked, looking at Kazuichi for an answer, but it seemed he hadn't thought about it and only made a humming sound.

"We can set a schedule. A call every three hours, starting by an hour after the morning announcement." Izuru quickly suggested. 

"As if we were going to do what you say..." Kazuichi groaned, but Peko cut him off.

"It's better than nothing. Let's do that, then." she said. This seemed to take Kazuichi's will to stay there completely. His shoulders slumped.

"I guess I'll go tell everyone else." he said before turning and leaving, walking slowly and clearly annoyed by the outcome.

Night fell soon after, and right after the night time announcement played, Monokuma popped up and began to pester them to leave, as staying overnight was only allowed for patients. Mikan argued, saying Nagito's condition had worsened and he couldn't be left unsupervised. Her argument was enough to convince Monokuma to let her stay, but only her. Peko and Izuru were forced to retreat to their cottages for the night.

The following day, Izuru got there soon after the morning announcement. Although Peko hadn't arrived, he began to do his rounds. After he stepped in Fuyuhiko's room, he found her with him. He didn't react and seemed to be about to leave, when Peko stopped him instead.

"I got here early. Mikan is still taking care of Nagito. It seems he hasn't improved." she explained unprompted.

"So?" he asked. His hand was resting on the handle, the door half closed.

"I'm still supposed to watch you. Don't go anywhere." Her gaze grew colder, but he obeyed and went inside the room, closing the door behind him.

"You shouldn't fight, Peko." Fuyuhiko said. He was still sick, but he didn't seem to feel particularly bad. "There's no way he would harm someone else. After all, we're all friends here." He gave out an incredibly warm smile.

"I'm sorry..." Peko lowered her head, saddened. "You will get better soon. We have to check on everyone else." She seemed to have collected her cool, getting up and adjusting the sword on her back. Izuru didn't comment and simply returned to make his rounds with her, choosing to remain silent. An hour later, they gathered in the lobby to receive the scheduled call.

"Helloooo! Can you see my handsome face?" Kazuichi showed up in the monitor. It seemed the modification he made worked.

"We can see you clearly." Peko replied. "Are you the only one there?"

"Nope. We're all here, except for Hiyoko." Chiaki's voice came through the speaker. She moved behind Kazuichi to let the camera catch her, but it was immediately shifted.

"It seems we all look like aberrant enemies in her eyes." Gundham snickered to himself. He was standing next to Sonia, who seemed to be the one who moved the camera.

"She's locked herself in her room, and doesn't want to come out." she explained. "She... says she won't come out until the disease is dealt with."

"Not everything is good on our end." Peko replied. She seemed to be thinking about Hiyoko too, given how she was looking away, but she focused soon enough. "Mikan said Nagito could be in danger of dying. She's been looking after him all night."

"What? Is that true?" Gundham seemed shocked for once.

"Fuyuhiko and Ibuki are okay, although I had to stop her from leaving a few times." Peko replied. "I suppose there's nothing else to say for now."

"I hope Nagito gets better... see you in three hours." Sonia seemed concerned, but the connection cut off shortly after.

"You didn't say anything." Peko remarked, looking back to Izuru. He had been standing behind her during the whole call.

"I had nothing to say." he replied. He seemed to become completely passive since they went inside the hospital, and Peko didn't like it at all.

The day went on with little news and eventually, night was on them again. Peko and Izuru left for their cottages. Concern was visible in Peko's face and she didn't seem to be doing too well, but Izuru refrained himself from asking. It had been two days already. Something was bound to happen the following day. After all, Monokuma got easily bored.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm running out of buffer... I only have until next week's chapter.  
> Good news are, my exams end this week, so that should be fixed soon!


	7. Downfall

Peko was worried about everyone in the hospital, but she couldn't help but feel sad whenever she set eyes on Fuyuhiko. The smile he constantly showed to everyone now was beautiful, but she knew it was nothing but a lie fever had put on him. The Fuyuhiko she knew never acted in such a way, and the disease's effect was incredibly disturbing to her. As light began to seep through the windows of her room, she got up, getting ready to go to the hospital, although the morning announcement hadn't played yet. Just before going out, someone knocked on her door. She opened it cautiously, with a hand on the bag of her sword. She had been on edge since she took the task to watch Izuru. When she opened the door, it turned out to be someone else.

"H-hi!..." Mikan greeted, but she seemed startled. Maybe she looked too threatening. She hurried to let go of her sword. "I-I was going to tell you that Nagito finally got better... he's conscious now and doesn't seem to be in danger..." she explained. "I-I didn't wake you up, did I?! Izuru wouldn't open the door... Oh, I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine, I was already awake... but did Nagito really get better?" Peko tried to calm her down, but she was still somewhat confused by her visit.

"P-please, hurry over!" Mikan insisted. She ended up having to give in and walk with her back to the hospital, although she wasn't sure about leaving Izuru unsupervised. Back at the hospital, she found Nagito sitting up in his bed and quickly speaking after they walked in the room.

"Peko! You're a ghost!" he said, surprised, although he wasn't gesticulating much. "I see, you were killed in Hajime's execution and you've come back for revenge. I'm sorry about it..."

"Are you sure he's okay?" Peko seemed skeptical.

"No... he just recovered from critical condition." she explained. After saying those words, she seemed to stumble. "Ah! Sorry, I feel dizzy..."

"You should get some rest. Have you slept at all?" Peko moved to grab her shoulder. "I'll do the rounds for you."

"T-then... I will use the on-call room upstairs..." she said, giving up quickly. "G-good night!" She walked out of the room, using the walls to steady herself every time she wobbled to a side.

After making sure Nagito wouldn't run off, she left the room as well. As she considered walking in Fuyuhiko's room, Izuru appeared on the corridor.

"You're here. The monitor's light is on. The others must want to talk to you." he said, as cold as ever. He didn't even count himself in the group. 

"That's odd. It's not the time we agreed yet..." she noticed, but still walked with him to the lobby. As he said, the light on the monitor was blinking, signalling someone had started the connection on the other side. She hit the button to start the transmission.

An image appeared on the monitor. It seemed like the music venue, but dimly lit by a candle. The scene was so dark she could barely make out the shape of a small stool in middle of the frame and dark curtains at the back of the stage. She wondered what was going on, until someone walked in the image. A person with a bag on their head. She could barely make out any features, due to the darkness, but the person was slowly approaching the stool. With slow steps, they started climbing it up. Their hands grabbed something hanging from the ceiling. That's when Peko realized she was watching a live suicide.

"We have to get there!" she yelled, grabbing Izuru's arm to take him with her. Even now, he knew she couldn't leave him alone. She dashed towards the music venue, hoping it wasn't too late. She should have realized what was hanging from the ceiling earlier. They quickly made it to the building, and Peko opened the doors with a harsh push.

All air seemed to seep out from her lungs. She was too late. Someone was hanging from the ceiling of the stage. A person with a bag over their head, and wearing a hospital gown. She stood there, frozen, until a sound came to her ears.

"Ding dong dong ding!"

"A body has been discovered!" Monokuma's voice came through all the monitors in the island.

"We have to tell everyone else." Peko turned back to face Izuru, who seemed unfazed by the scene in front of him. "Quickly!" She didn't have time to feel bewildered by his lack of reaction. She ran towards the motel, finding most people already outside, probably confused by the announcement.

"What was that just now?..." Sonia was the first one to address her, and she looked worried. "Has it started again?"

"There's a body in the music venue!" Peko explained in a hurry.

"Lies! That's the work of the Despair Disease, which has claimed your sanity as well!" Gundham argued.

"We should check anyway." Chiaki said. "We heard the body discovery announcement anyhow. That means... someone is dead."

After some unnecessary bickering, they agreed to go to the music venue, although Nekomaru and Hiyoko hadn't showed up. They could just tell them later. Peko had to admit she felt incredibly uneasy, and it just got worse as they bumped with Mikan along the way.

"H-Have you seen Fuyuhiko?! I can't find him!..." She was talking fast, in the verge of panic and stumbling over her words. "I checked on everyone before sleeping and... and he was gone!"

A sudden sense of dread invaded Peko. "T-the music venue." she stuttered out. She didn't want to think about that possibility. She kept running there without explaining further. As they reached the building, she tried to push the doors open, but they wouldn't move.

"Is it closed?" Chiaki asked. "That's odd... this is the only entrance."

"Let me handle that!" Akane pushed Peko away from the door. She managed to burst the door open with a powerful kick. Although everyone rushed to step inside, all of them instantly stopped as they noticed the situation. A scream from Mikan echoed through the venue.

"Ding dong dong ding!"

"A body has been discovered!" The exact same words came out of the speakers again.

Aside from the body dangling from the noose, something else had appeared. A body was tied to one of the pillars of the stage with duct tape. The body belonged to Hiyoko.

"What the hell happened here?!" Kazuichi screamed as well. "Hiyoko?! And... who is that other one?"

"Two victims..." Chiaki said in a low voice.

"This doesn't make sense." Peko sounded out of breath. "When I was here with Izuru, Hiyoko wasn't there... We didn't take so long to come back."

Another scream echoed through the room. This time, it came from Monomi. "What is this?! It's impossible, impossible! Murders can't take place here!..."

"I think we should lower that person to the ground..." Chiaki seemed to ignore Monomi's panicked words. "It's just sad to see it like that."

Nobody objected to the suggestion. They quickly used the control panel of the stage to lower the lights bar the noose was attached to. The machine made an infernal noise, and took what seemed ages to lower the body enough to reach it. When they managed to put it on the ground and remove the bag from their head, Peko felt like a part of her had died. Fuyuhiko. She wasn't sure of how she hadn't recognized him the second she saw him in the video, or when she stepped into the room.  
His face looked strangely calm, with his eyes closed, as if he had died in his sleep. She ran a timid hand around the mark on his neck, reddened and bruised from the rope.

"If only I had paid more attention to him..." Mikan lamented, tears starting to fall down her face. "This is my fault..."

"That's not true, Mikan... No matter how we feel... The one at fault is--"

Monokuma suddenly appeared out of nowhere, cutting off Monomi. "Jeez! This feels like a funeral or something!"

"Him! The root of all evil!" Monomi accused him as soon as he spoke.

"How dare you!" Monokuma stomped his feet on the ground. "I even went through the trouble of bringing everyone else here!"

Nekomaru was the only one they couldn't find at the motel, but now he was there and seemed shocked to see Hiyoko's body. "What happened?!"

"Looks like a murder took place while I was out of commission again..." Nagito had walked in too, along with Ibuki.

"Whoa, whoa! Fuyuhiko?!" Ibuki panicked as soon as she recognized him. "This is horrible! Hiyoko too?! Are we all going to die?!"

"Wait, you're okay?" Kazuichi seemed surprised. After all, both of them had been sick and acting strange for the last few days.

"Talking about the Despair Disease now? Guys, that's over now." Monokuma said, folding his plush arms over his belly. "I got bored... Besides, now that the killing started, there's no need to keep the motive around anymore! Don't worry about it!"

"That doesn't make any sense! How can they be cured like that?" Nekomaru voiced what everyone in the room was thinking.

"Details, details!" Monokuma gave out a rambunctious laugh. "Let's get back to the main topic! Here's your Monokuma File!" He gave out the small pad containing the information about the deaths, as always. "Do your best! I'll be waiting at the class trial."

Just like that, he was gone. As always.

"We have... we have to do this again?..." Sonia's voice cracked. She had been truing her best to appear calm, but it had been three times already.

"We have little choice." Gundham said, picking up the Monokuma File. "This crime cannot go unpunished."

"Guys... I hate to bring this up but..." Kazuichi spoke up. "Remember Hiyoko said Izuru would probably be the culprit if anything happened?... And she's dead."

"Peko, weren't you supposed to watch over him?" Akane asked her.

She had been sitting next to Fuyuhiko's body during the time Monokuma spent there, not paying attention to anything. She had been trying to take it in without bringing attention to herself, but she snapped back to the real world when she heard her name. "Oh-- I've been watching him all the time at the hospital." she replied, managing to get up and not let any emotions get through. "The only time when I haven't been with him these days was at night."

"We should investigate with our minds open, I think." Chiaki said. "We'll have time for accusations at the class trial... besides, he left."

"He left after Ibuki and I came inside." Nagito added. "I don't think he wants to help."

"I'm sorry, I'm leaving. I can't stand how hot it's in here!" Kazuichi ended up complaining again, leaving the venue. 

"Should we agree on someone to guard the scene?" Sonia asked. It seemed she had collected herself.

"I'll do it." Peko replied, standing up from the stage. "The rest of you should investigate... for their sake." There was a certain darkness in her eyes. She had to accept Fuyuhiko had died, but first of all, she would make sure the one who killed him paid the price.

"The Monokuma file states that Fuyuhiko died from strangulation, and Hiyoko died from a slash to the throat." Gundham read to everyone else. "No more external wounds. There's nothing else. Not even a measly time of death..."

After the initial confusion died out, everyone tried to investigate as much as they could. There was little chatter, aside from Nagito trying to ask everyone for a summary of what had happened. Chiaki decided to investigate by herself, but feeling strangely lonely. She kept noticing odd things in the music venue. Aside from the smothering heat, Hiyoko's kimono was tied in a strange way, with the sash on the front. There were stains of blood in the stepladder and Gundham located wrapping paper hanging from the ceiling. After a while, she decided to ask Mikan about her autopsy. 

"Uhhh... To tell you the t-truth, it's been very inconclusive because the music venue is too hot..." She seemed clearly anxious, bringing her hands up to her head. "I can't estimate the time of death!"

"Why would the killer try to hide the time of death?" Chiaki asked. "As long as it's an imitation murder, the order should be clear..."

"What do you mean by imitation murder?" Akane seemed confused.

"Don't you remember the movie Monokuma forced everyone to watch if they passed by the cinema?" she reminded her. In the movie, Monokuma killed several characters in succession. The first one was hanged, the second strapped to a tree and shot with arrow and the third, hacked into pieces. Most of the students had made the connection already.

"Ohh... right! I remember now. Does that mean another body could show up?" As she realized this fact, she seemed to tense up.

"Are you worried about another victim coming up?" Monokuma's voice came out of nowhere. "No worries! I'm a cautious guy! It wouldn't be much fun if a killer just came and swept up all of you!" After saying those words, he jumped on the stage. "On this killing school trip, the same blackened can only kill a maximum of two people! That's all. New rule! See you in the class trial!" As soon as he said his piece, he vanished again.

"At least, that means a third victim is impossible. The imitation murder cannot be completed." Gundham observed.

Time passed and few clues piled up. Before long, the monitors urged them to gather at the Monokuma Rock. The students walked in the area in groups, finding Izuru waiting there, sitting in the sand. He got up at the sight of them, but refused to speak and turned towards the rock statue.

"Has he been waiting here all the time?" Kazuichi wondered in a low voice.

"I don't think we should worry about that, but about ourselves." Nagito replied, having caught his comment. He looked as cheery as always. "After all, if something were to happen, all of us could die." 

"Why are you saying that stuff with a smile on your face?" Ibuki asked. She had been acting a little strange during the investigation, more quiet than usual.

"Let's say I want poetic justice to prevail in this case." His smile didn't clarify his words. They did trigger a glare from Izuru, who looked straight to the front after a split second.

Moments later, the mouth in the statue opened with a loud roar, as it always did. From it, a large flight of stairs dropped. It was strange to think one could get used to such an unnatural occurrence. The students climbed them in a line, to get inside the elevator taking them to their third class trial.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things about my attitude towards the fanfic regarding the upcoming DR3 anime: I know the Despair Arc will probably thwart some of the premises I'm using to characterise Izuru, as well as some things the others characters may or may not have done in the past.  
> I just wanted to say that, no matter what happens in the anime, the characterisation isn't going to change. I dislike ignoring canon, but I can't suddenly retract on something I wrote four or five chapters ago because of something that happened in an episode that airs at some point.


	8. Silence

The doors of the elevator opened slowly, letting bright light filter inside the cabin. As soon as it opened completely, the students stepped in the trial grounds. Monokuma had redecorated once again, this time making it look like the inside of a castle, with stone walls and daunting columns. Everyone took their assigned stands, watching Izuru with a hint of surprise. He had taken Hajime's position. Hajime's portrait wasn't standing in front of his old seat, as with the other deceased. He had been completely replaced. To his sides were Mahiru's and Hiyoko's portraits, both dead. The group had considerably thinned and accepting it wasn't easy for everyone. Monomi was, once again, hanging from a rope on the ceiling. After Monokuma made his usual introduction explaining the rules of the trial, Nagito was the first to speak, asking for someone to summarize the case. Reluctantly, Peko agreed to go over it from the beginning. When she was done, Nagito didn't seem completely satisfied.

"How do we know this wasn't something you made up?" he asked with a smile on his face.

"Izuru was with me." Peko replied, somehow keeping her voice steady. She had been clearly nervous since the beginning of the trial, and even earlier. "He was the one who told me about the call, and I dragged him along to the music venue."

"Is that true, Izuru?" Nagito asked him back. Although he was making eye contact, he didn't seem willing to answer.

"Izuru!" Peko expressed distress in her voice, unusual for her. "Why aren't you saying anything?"

"I told Chiaki before I wouldn't speak during class trials." Izuru finally decided to say. "I intend to keep it that way."

"But, why?" Peko demanded an explanation, but she was met only by silence.

"Well... it could have been Peko and she's threatening Izuru to not speak, right?" Kazuichi wondered, confused.

"Wait!" she cut him off, recalling something. "The body discovery announcement played after Izuru and I found the body. Everyone heard it. That proves I'm saying the truth."

"I suppose that's enough. Besides, I know it wasn't you." Nagito replied, still smiling. He had folded his arms. "I just wanted to make sure it was a reliable testimony." Peko found herself annoyed with the sudden accusation he didn't even mean in the first place. Was that his idea of fun?

"I think we should start with the locked music venue." Sonia said, trying to push the debate forward. "It was locked from the inside, but it's the only entrance. Would that mean they never left the scene of the crime?"

"Then that means that person joined everyone while the confusion was going on?" Ibuki asked. "That's actually kinda smart!"

"I found like... a broken drumstick close to the door when I burst it open. It could have been jammed with it." Akane pointed out.

"No... I think the killer made it look like it was locked from inside." Chiaki intervened. She elaborated when she noticed Akane was confused. "I mean, we found some kind of glob stuck to the door. I think it was glue... it was chewy and smelled of chemicals."

"Did you put it in your mouth?!" Kazuichi seemed grossed out. 

"Yeah that's glue." Akane agreed easily, nodding.

"Seriously?!" Now the mechanic was baffled too. "So, wait, does that mean that they could have just... opened the doors, glued the parts where they touched, and closed them? What for?"

"Just to make us think the door was locked from inside, I think." Chiaki said. 

"So that means... while Peko and Izuru were gone, the killer somehow killed Hiyoko, taped her up to the pilar and also locked the room?" Nekomaru asked. "You two couldn't have been gone for that long. Being that fast is completely impossible!" he was lifting up his voice more than necessary and Kazuichi could be heard groaning in return. 

"If they couldn't have done it while they were away from the venue, it means it was done earlier than that." Nagito suggested.

"What do you mean?" Peko seemed confused.

"It's possible that the body was just revealed at that point... while she had been killed earlier than that." he clarified, smiling. "Of course, that means the killer did that, too. I actually have proof of it." He held up a small scrap of paper.

"Isn't that the piece of wallpaper we found stuck on the baton lighting?" Gundham recalled. He used one of his hamsters to bring it down, while making a good fuss about it. 

"It is. It's part of the wallpaper in the storage room." he said, putting it back in his pocket.

"Hm... it does fit." Chiaki agreed. "I was in the storage room and the big roll of wallpaper was missing a piece."

"So what? What does that have to do with anything?" Akane asked.

"I think..." Sonia spoke up. "I think Hiyoko's body was taped up to the pilar... and then the killer hid it using the wallpaper!"

"Ah! So they wrapped the whole thing?" Ibuki seemed to get it too. "They wrapped up the whole pilar with wallpaper!"

"I-I didn't notice such a thing when I first went there." Peko said, almost hesitating.

"It makes sense you didn't notice. After all, it's normal you'd focus on Fuyuhiko's body." Nagito pointed out. "They used the baton lighting, which forms a perfect circle along the pilar, to hang the wallpaper. But they were too hasty when taking it away and accidentally ripped out a piece of it."

"O-oh... I see. So they made it look like the pilar..." Mikan said in a quiet voice. "Isn't that plan... very risky?..."

"Considering they just had to get in, peel off the wallpaper and stash it... I think that doesn't take much time." Chiaki fell silent for a moment after saying those words. "Peko, can I ask you something that's been bugging me for a while?"

"What is it?" she responded, although she was starting to struggle. She could save her worries for later. She had to find the killer, and Chiaki would help her with the task.

"Were you only with Izuru when the body discovery announcement played? Because the rules say three or more people have to find the body before that happens..." 

"Yes... actually, I didn't notice at the time. Who was the third person?" Peko seemed to realize something. "Wait. Does that mean someone already came before us?"

"Oh, now that you mention it... it could have been Hiyoko." Nagito guessed.

"But Hiyoko is dead! Do dead seeing other dead people count towards the... dead-seeing count?" Ibuki asked.

"If she was alive when she saw the body, I think they do." Nagito answered. "I think she ran into the killer and the body, so they killed her too."

"Isn't that a little bit far-fetched?" Sonia wondered.

"Maybe, maybe not. Anyway, I think it's time to talk about the imitation murder." Nagito changed the topic without a care.

"As I remember it in the movie... First the scarecrow was hung, then the lion was tied to a tree and shot with arrows, and the tin man was cut into pieces." Nekomaru recalled. "I thought Fuyuhiko died first because of that!"

"What movie?" Monomi asked.

"Haven't you seen my masterpiece, The Wizard of Monomi 2.5D?!" Monokuma asked back, annoyed.

"Don't put my likeness in some knock-off without my permission!" Monomi complained, kicking the air and making the rope dangle. 

"How dare you?!" Monokuma argued, his voice growing in pitch. "It's not a knock-off!"

"Anyway..." Nagito chose to ignore their bickering. "Why did the killer choose to imitate it?"

"Maybe they did it so we'd get the order backwards?" Ibuki suggested. "I think I saw that happening in some video game!"

"No... I think it was either to confuse us or by accident." Chiaki argued.

"How can you claim that it's irrelevant so easily?" Gundham folded his arms, not convinced at all.

"Because Hiyoko was the one who found Fuyuhiko first. That means Fuyuhiko died first." she exposed her theory again. "There was blood on a side of the stepladder, wiped around on the floor... yet the steps of the ladder were clean, as well as Fuyuhiko's slippers. He was already hung up by the time Hiyoko was killed."

"I agree she died on the music venue. Moving around a dead body isn't so easy." Nagito nodded.

"Wait, wait!" Kazuichi interrupted. "How did Hiyoko get there anyway? She wouldn't leave her room back at the motel!"

"Maybe she got kidnapped!" Akane said.

"Her room was locked. How could the killer get inside? Are you implying they broke down the door?" Gundham asked.

"Maybe they did! They ain't so sturdy."

"Akane... the door wasn't broken." Sonia pointed out. "And the door was locked with Hiyoko's key. She had it hidden inside her kimono."

"There's more ways to get in." she insisted, starting to get worked up. "And they could have just locked it back up to make it look like it wasn't so!"

"Then why would they hide the key in her kimono? They could just throw it away!" Nekomaru pitched in.

"Actually... I think I know why she went out." Sonia said. "She had trouble wearing her kimono... and I informed her that perhaps she'd find it easier to fix by using the full-length mirror at the music venue."

"So... you're sayin' her kimono was messed up because she didn't know how to wear it?" Akane seemed baffled.

"I see... so she went there on her own... and she happened to bump into the killer. Being found out, the killer had to think fast, so they killed her too." Chiaki sounded saddened by this fact.

"Everything so far seems to fit." Nagito said. "Hiyoko was the one who saw the dead body of Fuyuhiko first, and the killer, who was still there, killed her for it. That means the imitation murder was probably a distraction that made things more complicated."

"You know, if you didn't sound so happy about it, I'd be more calm when you talk." Kazuichi accused him.

"Then... what was that video?" Peko asked. "I remember in the video I saw... Fuyuhiko walking towards the stepladder, climbing it, and hanging himself." Every word was torture. She couldn't understand. She had no reason to suspect anyone yet, but she did anyway. And there also was the possibility that Fuyuhiko had somehow done it himself. Perhaps the killer convinced him to do it, telling him it would help everyone else. Such a thing could even work given his state.

"No... we already said Fuyuhiko was dead when Hiyoko walked in. So that means he couldn't have killed her... and I assume there's only one killer." Chiaki looked up to Monokuma.

Monokuma sighed before answering, but decided to be honest about it. "I suppose I should clarify: yes, there's only one killer. There will always be only one killer!" 

"That means there's a single person who killed both of them." Chiaki summed up.

"...So what was that video? The monitor can only show live videos, not recordings." Peko wondered. She didn't even know why she thought for a moment Fuyuhiko could have done something like that. No, of course not! Not even because of the disease. A person couldn't change so much because of a fever.

"Could you describe us the video again?" Nagito asked.

"Well..." she frowned, trying to recall to the best of her ability. "It was very dark. There was only a candle illuminating the scene, so I couldn't see very clearly. The stepladder was there... and a figure slowly walked up to it. It was wearing a bag on its head and a hospital gown, the same as we found the body... They climbed it up... And that's when I realized he was grabbing a noose, and I ran towards the music venue."

"This is just an assumption, but are you sure it was Fuyuhiko?" Nagito seemed to have something on his mind, smiling as he asked.

"I'm not sure..." Peko mumbled. She tried harder to compare both figures. "Actually... I think that person was taller than him, and generally bigger. Could it have been someone else?"

"Ah!" Gundham slammed a fist on his stand. "The killer played the victim in that video to draw you, unsuspecting, to the music venue!"

"But when I arrived to the music venue, the body was already hung there. And Hiyoko was dead, too. They couldn't have put it back so quickly." Peko argued. She was slowly starting to put herself together, although it would only last until they found the killer. First, justice.

"What if the video was filmed somewhere else?" Chiaki suggested.

"That thing didn't have that much of a range." Kazuichi intervened. "It could only transmit to the hospital from the music venue or the cinema."

"I'm thinking of the conference room in the hospital. The floor was the same as the stage, and there were black curtains that blocked out light. They just changed the curtains at the music venue to make them look the same." Chiaki seemed to already have a strong theory.

"An amazing deduction! All that gaming must have given you incredible skills!" Nagito congratulated her. "So, they just took the camera with them and staged the video to make Peko run right towards it!"

"How did you not notice the camera was missing when you went to the music venue?" Nekomaru asked, as loud as ever.

"I think I saw the monitor smashed to pieces when I got there, but that... wasn't my focus." she replied.

"It's very clear at this point who did all this, based on the video." Nagito said. 

"What?! You know who the killer is?!" Nekomaru looked shocked.

"In order to go to the conference room, you have to enter the hospital through the lobby. Peko and Izuru were there. Ibuki and I were delirious because of the Despair Disease." Nagito said. He was going to continue, but Peko cut him off.

"...Mikan." she said.

"W-what? Me?" she jumped on the spot, startled.

"You said you were going upstairs to rest. The conference room is just next door, and there wasn't anyone else at the hospital. I can't think of anyone else." her gaze had turned cold, staring at the Ultimate Nurse with disdain. 

"P-please wait!" Mikan yelled. "I-I'm not the k-killer! I would never do something like that!"

"...Are you sure she's the killer?" Akane asked. "I don't think this chick could even kill a fly."

"It's hard to believe..." Sonia seemed to have doubts too.

"Can I speak for a moment?" Nagito intervened again. "I know I'm in no position to say this, but I think I have evidence against her. You know, investigating with a suspect in mind does change your outlook on the investigation."

"What evidence?" Kazuichi asked.

"Regarding the rope Fuyuhiko was hung with... We assume it was taken from the supermarket, right? So it had to be brand-new." Nagito began his explanation, gesturing in front of him as if there was in invisible rope. "However, it's frayed right at the middle. The part Fuyuhiko was hung from was right at the end, and it was hanging from the baton at the other end... so what does it mean?"

"Stop beating around the bush and tell us!" Akane hurried him.

"I think the rope was wrapped around Fuyuhiko's neck, and the killer pulled from both ends to strangle him." he explained, even making the motion with his invisible rope. "That's why the center is frayed."

"Strangling and hanging should leave different kinds of scars in a body..." Chiaki seemed to be thinking out loud. "The Monokuma file doesn't clarify it."

"Mikan told me the cause of death was definitely hanging when I asked her." Nagito pointed out. "We shouldn't know the difference between them, but someone as the Ultimate Nurse should be able to tell the difference, isn't that right?"

"W-wait..." she complained in a weak voice. "I-I'm not a coroner... I don't have the medical knowledge to identify such injuries! I just made a mistake!"

"Even a drunk medical student can tell the difference." Nagito sighed, ruffling his own hair.

"How do you even know that? Besides, she's just clumsy and she could have jumped to conclusions because of how the body appeared!" Nekomaru seemed to jump to support her as well.

"H-he's right! I'm so c-clumsy all the time..." Mikan admitted, almost in tears. 

"She nursed me back to health..." Ibuki seemed to hesitate too. "Believing everything I was told, Ibuki could have been a target too, but I'm alive!"

"Don't you think that's why she had it easy to murder Fuyuhiko?" Nagito argued. "Besides, he was positive about everything, so he was extremely trusting at that moment."

"You mean that she was nursing us because she planned it all along?!" she waved her hands in the air frantically. "That's just downright evil!"

"N-no! Please forgive me!" Mikan finally broke into tears. 

"I refuse." Nagito gave her a hard stare. "I can't forgive a crime like this... but if you guys don't want to, I suppose I'll back off."

"I-I'm not the killer... I didn't do anything..." Mikan sobbed. 

"Is that true?" Chiaki asked.

"Please stop! There's no reason to continue this!" Sonia yelled.

"I doubt her... because I want to believe her. I want to believe she's innocent. But she has to prove she's innocent first." she explained, looking down.

"I see. That's all?" Mikan suddenly seemed to stop crying, and had a vacant look in her eyes instead. "So... you're a bunch of bullies. Accusing me for so reason... T-they always do that to me..." She suddenly raised her voice, frowning. "I'm done with that! You hear me?! I'm done!"

"M-Mikan?" Sonia got startled when she shouted.

"Why won't anybody forgive me?! What did I do wrong?" she insisted, shouting even louder.

"Can I ask you something, Mikan?" Chiaki tried to call her attention. "If you weren't the one who made that video, who was it?"

"I-it wasn't me!" she just yelled.

"Can you prove it?"

"Do you have any proof that I made that video in the first place?" she shot back, frowning. "Y-you're just assuming the video was filmed in the conference room! Why do you hate me so much?!"

"What's wrong with her?!" Nekomaru seemed alarmed. "She's never acted like this before!"

"Peko... I have to leave this to you. You're the only one who can argue against her." Chiaki told her. 

She didn't know what to say, although she understood why Chiaki she trusted her. She was, along with Izuru, the only one who saw the video. He refused to speak, so the responsibility fell on her... She had to make up her mind. Mikan had been the one who murdered Fuyuhiko, somehow, and he deserved to be avenged. She took a deep breath. 

"I'm not the killer! Why won't you forgive me?" Mikan kept insisting.

"We can't think of anyone else." Nagito argued back.

"Really?" her behavior took a turn again, turning extremely calm. "Do you have any proof? The hemp bag on their head? The noose? The hospital gown? Were the slippers suspicious?..."

"Fuyuhiko was a guy, for starters..." Akane commented. 

"Can you tell that from the video? From the gown? From the camera angle? From the candlelight?"

"Hold on!" Peko cut her off. "I never said anything about the camera angle!"

"Ahh!" Mikan jumped again.

"You could only know about that if you had either seen or filmed the video." Peko insisted to get it across to everyone else.

"Wait." Mikan seemed to regain her composure. "Do you remember the hemp bag? It had Usami's decal on it... it was a limited item. So how could there be two of them?"

"You've lost, Mikan." Izuru spoke, surprising everyone else. "Monokuma had a two for one offer. That's all."

"I-Izuru?... You hate me too?..." she seemed about to cry again.

Silence fell. Only Mikan's sobbing could be heard in the room. Everyone else was considering the evidence. Mikan turned out to be the killer. All proof pointed to her. Yet, nobody understood why she had done it. After silence, came a laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, weekly update. See you next week, and thank you all for your comments!


	9. Love

Laughter spread across the trial grounds. It was a cheerful laughter, of someone truly enjoying themselves. However, it chilled everyone else. Considering the circumstances, nobody should have been able to laugh, yet Mikan did. She was loud, smiling radiantly, her cheeks flushed.

"This feeling... it's been such a long time..." she said after calming down her laugh. "Like everything is falling apart... this feeling of beautiful despair!..."

"Mikan?..." Sonia breathed out. "What happened to you?"

"Whoa there! I think your arguments have reached a conclusion, so it's time for voting!" Monokuma interrupted her, apparently not moved by the display. "You know how this goes! Pull the lever in front of you to cast your vote!"

It wasn't long before the result was loudly announced by the bear, although everyone avoided talking, or exchange gazes with the killer.

"Once again, you're right! The blackened was none other than Mikan Tsumiki! That's like three in a row!" he proceeded to laugh at his own joke.

"I can't believe it..." Akane said, then turned to face Mikan. "Were you lying to all of us?"

She only laughed in return, moving away from her stand. Everyone was doing the same, now that the trial had ended. 

"Has she gone mad?" Peko wondered. She sounded cold, and her eyes were fierce, fixed on her. She almost reached over to her sword, tempted to cut her into pieces right there and save Monokuma the trouble. Izuru placed a hand on her shoulder all of a sudden. She looked up at him, but he was only looking at Mikan as well, and removed his hand afterwards.

"No... she's just not the same person anymore." Nagito replied. "She got it too, you know? The Despair Disease. I know it because she was taking care of me." 

"How do you know? She was nursing me too, and I didn't notice anything weird!" Ibuki said. "Isn't a killer nurse a typical horror flick?"

"Her expression was full of despair. There was no hope at all." Mikan laughed again as she heard Nagito's words, looking over to Izuru. "Her symptoms were worth of the name of that disease... devoid of any hope... She's no longer the Ultimate Nurse, but the Ultimate Despair! I can't forgive someone who kills for the sake of despair..."

An even louded laugh echoed across the room. "No, I killed for love!" Mikan said. "If only they were alive... They'd be so happy!" She cackled again, almost drooling on the floor. "They never hated me... forgave me... They gave me value and truly loved me! This is my reciprocation!"

"I... I don't understand." Nagito seemed confused, and at the same time somewhat repulsed.

"No? Is that because you've never loved?" Mikan asked him. "I feel sorry for you... love is a wonderful thing... You no longer care about anything... Love is the only thing that matters."

"Nagito, was this because of the disease?" Chiaki asked.

"Well, he's half right. What that disease did was... make me able to remember my beloved." Mikan explained. 

"Remembering Disease?" Ibuki guessed.

"Does that mean... that you remember what was taken away from us?" Peko began to ask too.

"Of course I do. I remember everything. But what I remember the most... was my beloved..."

"Wait up." Kazuichi seemed in mild panic. "Does that mean she ended up like that, because she remembered?"

"You say it like it's a bad thing... Maybe I could tell you something about what I remembered." Mikan giggled to herself.

"Don't." Izuru cut her off sharply. "You'll confuse us on purpose."

"Oh..." she seemed vaguely disappointed, but then laughed again. "It's fine. I'm thankful for your help... I'll keep counting on it for the sake of my beloved."

"What do you mean by help?" Peko turned to face him, a threatening look on her face. Izuru only looked away.

"Monokumaaaa! Can we do it now?" Mikan called.

"Wait! What do you mean? Tell us about what you remembered!" Kazuichi tried to demand explanations.

"Punishment time?" Monokuma jumped out of his seat, giddy and shuffling around. "Well then! I've prepared a very special punishment for the Ultimate Nurse, Mikan Tsumiki!"

"It's finally over..." Mikan sighed, smiling. "Now I can finally go with my beloved... who always forgives me... I will finally see them!"

"Let's give it everything we've got! It's punishment time!"

As always, the entire group was forced to watch the execution through a big screen in the courtroom, but Izuru didn't pay attention to it. He was, mostly, considering what the others would do next. Accuse him, most certainly. Blame him for Fuyuhiko and Hiyoko's death. He hoped to be wrong. He really looked forward to have his expectations thwarted again, somehow. The island had already managed to surprise him on a few occasions. Even the students had done it. He lifted his head once he heard Monokuma back in the room, complimenting himself on a job well done. He found nine pairs of eyes staring at him. It seemed he was right. How boring.

"I'll ask you again." Peko trembled, but her face was stone cold. "What did you do to help her?"

"She wanted me to prevent you from getting in Fuyuhiko's room." he replied. Saying the truth would be enough. Or at least part of it. "She came to my room at morning... insisting a lot. I didn't ask questions and agreed so she'd leave."

"Why?" Kazuichi asked. Peko stared at him, which made him take a step to a side in fear, hiding behind Sonia.

"I suppose she didn't want you to find out he was gone until you saw the video." Izuru answered anyhow.

"Why did you prevent her from saying anything else?" Peko asked this time. "And why did she obey you so easily?"

"She would have confused us. She didn't hold us any sympathy." Izuru replied, shrugging. "And I don't know why she complied."

"You're a liar." Peko hissed, gripping her sword. Izuru stood still, apparently waiting for her to move, but Nekomaru was faster to grab her from behind, sensing the danger.

"Three people died, Peko!" he said firmly at her, gripping both of her hands behind her. "There's no need to add a fourth one!"

"Let me go!" she yelled, struggling against his restraint. Izuru was already walking towards the elevator. "How can he be so calm?! There's no way he isn't involved!" Her struggle began to falter, her shoulders slumping. "There's... no way..."

Everyone else watched in silence. They didn't know what to say to her. After all, wasn't Peko the one who was always calm? She was completely losing it and even threatened to attack someone else. They didn't even understand the reason. How could they? How was she supposed to explain that she had lost all she had ever lived for? Nekomaru let go of her as she slowly sunk to the floor, covering her face.

"You mustn't give in to despair, Peko!" Nagito ended up intervening. "I know things look grim, but you're all Ultimates! If anyone can move on, that's you guys! Mikan... with how she was, she was never a Symbol of Hope in the first place!"

"Do you think... that she could have been the traitor?" Kazuichi wondered.

"Wrong!" Monokuma jumped from his seat to join the students. "The traitor is still alive! Just look at Monomi! She'd be more worried if her companion from the Future Foundation were gone!" Monomi reacted by getting startled and hiding behind a stand.

Some uncomfortable minutes passed before the students began to pull themselves together and enter the elevator. Sonia was trying to guide Peko gently by her arm, who had ended up looking at the floor. There were wet stains on her glasses from crying in silence, and she continued to do so until they reached the surface. The rides in that elevator were turning longer and longer every time.   
The sun was starting to set, colouring the sky in orange and red. The sound of waves greeted them back on the island, but it was nothing that would soothe them. The conclusion of the trial hadn't made anyone happy. Izuru considered going back to his cottage and spend the rest of the day there, avoiding interfering with the students for the time being, but Nagito seemed to have other plans. He was almost surprised when he called him.

"Can I talk to you in private?" he asked. His expression showed concern. There was something definitely bugging him. "If you don't mind..."

"Sure." he agreed. After all, he had no reason to refuse. "Let's go to your cottage." he suggested. He considered for a brief moment asking to go to his, but he knew that if he did that, the conversation would go to Hajime at some point. He always felt uneasy for some reason when talking about him. Watching him through the monitors had already felt strange enough. Still, he wondered what Nagito intended to ask him about. He had a rough idea, but he had to admit he wasn't completely sure. They walked in silence towards the cottage. When they arrived, Nagito opened the door and invited him inside. He had somehow placed a big shelf against a wall to keep some books. They were of very diverse topics, but he didn't have time to focus on them. There was nowhere for them to sit aside from the edge of the bed, and they ended up sitting there, as far from each other as possible, in silence.

"I wanted to ask you about what Mikan said." he finally spoke up after some seconds. "When she said she killed for love. I wonder... what kind of person her beloved is."

"You're still confused about that?" he replied. He wasn't directly looking at him and stared at the shelves, reading the names of the books.

"It was obvious she held ill intent towards us. Yet she seemed to be in love... madly in love." he cast his sight downwards, deep in thought. "If she became like this from remembering... What exactly have we lost?"

"I don't think it's of any use to worry about something we can't remember." Izuru said. He was starting to understand the reason of why he was there. "She killed for love, but it was a twisted version of it." This time, he looked directly to Nagito. "If you think about it, she could have chosen Ibuki to kill. It would be even easier given her condition, but she went out of her way to choose Fuyuhiko. Sum Peko's reaction to it, and you'll have her reason for choosing the victim."

Nagito seemed confused for a few seconds, but his eyes opened widely as he understood it. "Mikan couldn't be with that person she called her beloved... and Peko really liked Fuyuhiko, so she killed him to make her feel despair! That's... that's!..." He bit his lip in anger but ended up just shaking his head. "As I thought... you're good at seeing things. You should help everyone. A talent like yours..."

"I don't know what you think I am, but you're making a mistake." Izuru cut him off. "I don't care how this ends."

Nagito seemed disappointed. "I've been observing you since you joined us, and you seem confused about your own intentions." he said. "I hope you'll end up choosing to help. Taking the side of hope. This apathy... can only lead to despair. It would be awful."

Izuru got up suddenly. However, he seemed to be smiling faintly. "You're right. I should make up my mind already. Not being able to choose is very unlike me." he agreed. The smile had already faded, as if it had never been there. "Did I clear your doubts? I'm leaving."

"Of course! I didn't mean to keep you here... I'm sorry you had to see something so unsightly as my cottage." Nagito apologized, smiling at him sheepishly. 

Izuru said nothing and walked out towards his own cottage. On the way there, he saw Sonia and Gundham talking in a low voice among themselves next to Peko's cottage. They instantly stopped talking as they saw him walk by. He felt like asking what they were doing. But he refrained himself from doing so. How could Nagito have seen past him? Had it been a stroke of luck? He audibly sighed as he locked the door of his room and dropped on his bed. He hadn't done anything that day, but he felt exhausted. If Monokuma did nothing, he knew what the next death would be. It would be horribly boring, even for the bear. If he somehow saw it coming too, he would try to prevent it by doing something new, different... And that's exactly what would happen the following day.

Well, at least he could never predict Monokuma. He looked forward to be surprised the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slight delay! I got caught up in some things I had to do.
> 
> I'm also warning I'll probably not be able to update on time next week since I will be away from home. Don't worry, the fic won't be dropped!


	10. Excitement

The next morning, the whole group gathered at the restaurant. However, there was some tension among the students. Peko had gotten there first, taking up the corner spot Izuru used to sit at, and looked at at the floor. The sight alone was already concerning, but she also kept her sword bag in front of her, in a clearly hostile position. Not a single person dared to speak to her, and the group ended up gathered up around a table, with Akane eating without a care in the world. Izuru had moved to the opposite corner, still unwilling to join the group despite Peko having taken his spot.

"I believe we should focus in the Future Foundation." Gundham suggested as nobody seemed willing to speak. "After all, they're still our enemy. The traitor is still among us."

"Those were the guys who brought us here, right? Didn't Monokuma say they planned to destroy the world?" Ibuki asked.

"That's right..." Nagito agreed "And they also went through the trouble of taking away our memories of Hope's Peak. I wonder who the traitor is, and why they're here."

"You're one to talk." Kazuichi glared at him. "You're the most suspicious one here, along with Izuru."

"Even a childish organization that wants to destroy the world wouldn't accept someone like me." he replied with a smile. 

"And that's why you aren't the traitor?" Chiaki asked, tilting her head. She didn't seem to understand him.

"The whole talk of the traitor started when I wasn't with you." Izuru said, as he noticed attention had been driven to him once again. "Besides. If I were Monomi's ally, why would she have me trapped, only to be released by Monokuma? I'm not with World Ender."

"And what says Monokuma isn't with them either?" Kazuichi argued back.

"Fools! Fighting with ourselves is just what Monokuma wants!" Nekomaru cut him off by raising his voice. The walls almost trembled when he yelled and Kazuichi instantly stopped talking.

"Woah! I can feel goosebumps every time you do that." Ibuki seemed amused. "You've seriously never considered being a singer?"

"Hm! That wouldn't be a bad idea at all!" Nekomaru grinned.

The tension was slowly starting to dissipate. However, Sonia, hadn't been able to ignore how Peko was behaving. She had always been quiet, but not so much, so she moved away from the group to try and talk to her.

"Are you okay?" She asked the other girl. "You haven't eaten at all..."

"I'm fine." Peko's reply was sharp, refusing to make any eye contact. Sonia decided not to insist, although she was still concerned. 

"Someone needs to cheer up..." Kazuichi noticed the small exchange and decided to comment on it. A stern look from Sonia, who had understood she didn't want to be bothered, made him quiet down and mumble a slurred "Sorry, Miss Sonia.". It seemed he wasn't getting any slack.

"I think you guys should cheer up!" Monomi had appeared out of nowhere and had jumped up on one of the tables, almost knocking down a glass in the process.

"Not with you around! Stop interrupting us!" Akane yelled at her, waving a fork in her direction.

"Kyaah! What are you planning to do with that?!" Monomi got frightened and jumped down to hide under the table instead. It seemed she was always unwelcome.

"Are you here to tell us you've defeated another Monobeast?" Izuru asked. He was sure it would be the case.

"Yes! That's right!" she seemed to cheer up after hearing his words, coming from under the table and doing a silly twirl in the air. "You can visit a new island, so do your best to get along with everyone!"

"I'm not going." Kazuichi seemed even more put off, if possible, slumping his shoulders and almost hitting his head against the table. "It's not like we'll find a way to escape anyway."

"Rather than that..." Sonia looked down, brushing her fingers under her chin. "It seems that every time we go to a new island, there are more chances for someone to die..." She looked up to the group. "It might be best if you don't go..."

"But--but that's not what I meant..." Monomi looked saddened.

"What a bore!" Monokuma joined up the fray, appearing from the stairs and knocking Monomi to a side. "Stand back and leave this to your big brother!"

"Don't make it sound like we're together in this!" Monomi complained.

As expected, Monokuma decided to just get rid of her by kicking her out of the window, with impressive strength and a surprisingly graceful style for a stuffed bear.

"Well, now that I've moped up the annoying one..." He resumed after dusting his hands. "Since your mood seems to be down to a bunch of nothing, I've got something which will make you so excited your noses will bleed!" He struck a victory pose and grinned widely. "I've prepared a special treat!"

"...A treat?" Chiaki looked confused, and sleepy.

"Ohh, you took the bait? Good!" He bounced once again, this time to get on top of the table they had gathered around of. "I've prepared some interesting things for you to find in the new island! Such as information about the Future Foundation!" Those words did seem to make some of the students react. Nagito instantly shot out from his seat. "Such as... parts that may be useful for making a ship!" Monokuma continued. Kazuichi leaned forward with renewed interest. "And... your student profiles from your time at Hope's Peak!" He jumped down from the table after considering he was finished. "Soooo, do your best to explore!" After saying those words, he vanished again.

"What do we do?" asked Chiaki after some seconds passed.

"We might be able to go home if we find ship parts." Kazuichi said. He seemed determined to do something about them. "We have to go, obviously."

"I'm going too." Nagito joined in. "If there are clues about the Future Foundation, we have to see them."

The students began to talk with each other, ending up agreeing to go. All except Peko and Izuru, who were just sitting on opposite sides and not paying attention. Ibuki walked up in front of Izuru and waved a hand in front of him.

"Helloooo? Are you coming?" she asked him. 

"No." he just replied.

"Why not? Come on, it'll be fun! Ibuki will keep you entertained!" she pointed to herself, grinning widely. "We could have fun again, like when we spent the day in the music venue!"

Izuru wasn't sure of what was her definition of fun, when he spent most of the day wishing it was finally over, but he ended up giving in. He wasn't completely sure of why she had decided to pester him, since Peko was still alone. He didn't ask and let himself be dragged once again by Ibuki around the islands, up until the bridge leading to the new, fourth island. Everyone else had already gone ahead.  
From the bridge, a huge castle was already visible. As they walked forward, a rollercoaster made its way into their view, as well as a Ferris wheel and stands for snacks. Balloons were flying away from somewhere in the island, covering the sky in colours. Ibuki yelled in excitement as soon as she realized what those buildings meant.

"This island is a huge amusement park!" she seemed ecstatic, throwing her hands up in the air. "Look! It's got everything! It's amazing!" she instantly began to run around the island, trying to see everything from up close. Every now and then, she'd point to a building and yell what it was, excited and bouncing on the spot. After some minutes of endless excitement from her, they ended up at the entrance of the rollercoaster. Akane and Nekomaru had also stopped close to it.

"I've always loved these things!" Akane's voice was heard as they approached. "Do you think we'll be able to ride it, Nekomaru?"

Monokuma popped out of nowhere. "It's under maintenance!" he yelled, apparently angry. "It's not nearly intense enough, so I'm powering it up! Come back later!" After saying those words, he left from where he came from.

"Maybe we can ride it with everyone else when it's done!" Nekomaru didn't let his spirits go down and laughed, patting Akane's shoulder. 

"Alright, but I'll be the first one in line!" Akane replied. She seemed to notice Ibuki and Izuru at that moment and turned to face them. "Hey, do you two like rollercoasters?"

"They're awesome! I'll go with you too!" Ibuki said. "You'll ride it too, right? It's fun!" she asked Izuru.

"I've never been to one." He had to admit the perspective of trying something for the first time was nice. "Maybe I'll ride it too."

"Really? Never?" Akane looked surprised. "I think you should ride at the back... or else your hair will be on everyone's face." 

After some more idle chatting, they decided to join up and keep walking around the island. They visited the entry to the castle only to find they couldn't actually go inside. Neither Akane or Nekomaru were able to burst down the door, while Monomi and Monokuma appeared only to tell them to stop, sprouting some nonsense about "scary mice". Izuru assumed the inside of the castle was some sort of safe area they couldn't access, so he refused to pay further attention. Once they gave up, they stopped in front of an strange building. Sonia was there as well.

"What is this? A haunted house?" Ibuki asked as soon as they stepped closer.

"I'm not sure..." Sonia replied. "It looks out of place." She walked towards to the front door, which was covered in splatters of paint. Monomi's voice came out of bushes as soon as she moved.

"That Monokuma... he's been doing whatever he pleases..." she lamented between sobs. "Look what he did to my house!"

"Is this where you live?" she asked. Monomi jumped on the spot and turned, surprised.

"You've heard me?!" she waved her little arms around, noticing the other students. "Ohh, I shouldn't cry in front of my students. I'm your teacher..." 

"Oh." Izuru spoke up all of a sudden. "This is where you had me trapped."

Monomi froze up when she heard his words. "Uh... um... I have to go!" she said before running off in a hurry.

Ibuki was the first one to turn back to Izuru, then to the house. "Really? Here?" she asked.

"I remember seeing it from outside right after Monokuma let me out and made me go to the Monokuma Rock." he said. "There wasn't so much garbage on top of it, though."

"So Monomi really had you trapped..." Nekomaru said. "I wonder why, and why Monokuma let you out." he seemed to be trying to think about it.

"It don't know either." he responded. He refused to answer further questions about it.

They left Sonia be, as she didn't seem in the mood to talk. After exploring the rest of the island and trying to get some food at the unattended stands, they came across the rollercoaster again. Most of the students had already gathered there.

"Is it open? Can we ride?" Ibuki asked. She was eating an ice cream after Izuru declined to have it as a gift. 

"Monokuma told me that if all of us ride it, we'll get a treat." Chiaki said. 

"Really? That's great!" She seemed to get her enthusiasm back after calming down for a while. "Here, you can have it!" she sad as she gave the ice cream to Akane. She happily accepted it and ate most of it in a single bite. Izuru was certain ice cream wasn't supposed to be eaten like that.

"Welcome!" Monokuma's voice startled them. He was standing on top of the first wagon. "Welcome to the main attraction! I call it the Great Ultra-Delicious Coaster!"

"Do we have to ride it all together?" Kazuichi sounded hesitant. "I get carsick..."

"Come on! It can't be that bad!" Akane grinned and chuckled at him.

"Everyone who likes them always says that, but it's not true!" he yelled in return. "I'm not riding it!"

"Where does this ride go?" Sonia asked, looking somewhat clueless. "Does it just... return to where you start?"

"You fiend... have you never gone to an amusement park before?" Gundham asked her.

"I'm afraid these don't exist in my country..." Sonia admitted. 

"I see..." Gundham nodded. "I've only ever gone once." He suddenly grinned and laughed. "But it was an amusement park in Hell! Filled with man-eating demons!"

"I think standing around like this is a waste of time." Peko's voice came out of nowhere. She had arrived at some point, maybe lured by the promise of a reward. She looked stern and didn't seem to be in the mood for fooling around.

"I agree." Nagito said. It seemed he was the last one to arrive. "Why don't we just ride it?"

"As if it were so easy!" Kazuichi yelled, now balling his hands into fists. "I'm not riding it! I'm not!"

"Don't be such a baby!" Nekomaru said, grabbing him. "Come on, ride with me and you'll see it's not that scary!"

"Let me go! Please!" Kazuichi began to scream, but ended up getting stuffed in a wagon against his will, with Nekomaru blocking the way out. It didn't prevent him from screaming further.

The students slowly began to take places in the rollercoaster, with Akane and Ibuki in the first row and looking thrilled about it. Izuru sat at the far back, making sure no one would try to sit by his side. The ride took off shortly after everyone strapped in, increasing speed rapidly to incredible levels even when the wagon was just going up its first ramp. Kazuichi screamed at the top of his lungs, and his voice only went higher once the drop came, increasing the speed even more. Akane and Ibuki cheered from the front row, apparently being the ones having the most fun. Sonia seemed to be enjoying the ride as well. Even so, the ride was maybe a little too intense. It kept taking sharp turns in a zigzag manner, going up and down without ever diminishing the speed. There were even some loops making Gundham screech in terror like no student had ever heard him do. The ride ended surprisingly fast, barely seconds after it started. Or so they believed.

"We've arrived!" Monokuma said once the wagon had completely stopped. "How was it? Fun?"

"We should ride it again!" Akane hopped out of the seat with a grin on her face. Ibuki and Sonia instantly agreed. Kazuichi was still somehow screaming at the mere thought of it, and was attempting to not bend over and throw up in the first place. Izuru watched everyone else get out of the wagon and not exactly be willing for a second ride, while he combed his hair with a hand. 

"Where's that treat you promised us?" Peko asked. It seemed to be the reason why she even bothered to go all the way there.

"Yes, yes." Monokuma sighed and took a file out of nowhere, handing it over to Nagito, who was the nearest student. "Here it is!" he said. The file in question was a notebook in a dark green cover, with the kanji for "Future" on it. It had to be a file from the Future Foundation. Nagito opened it cautiously, with worry printed on his face. The rest of the students gathered around him to peek, while Izuru didn't seem interested and kept at the back. The file in question narrated a summary of events which took place in Hope's Peak Academy. Namely, a killing game between the students. Six of them survived and managed to escape after the mastermind died. The file was complete with photos taken from security camera footage, as well as profile photos of the surviving students. 

"What does this mean?" Nagito pondered quietly. "Why is he there?"

"That's definitely Byakuya..." Gundham noticed too what Nagito was hinting. One after another, the students' expression changed to surprise, either because of the events described or because of Byakuya's picture. 

"W-What is that killing school life?" Kazuichi said, much quieter than his previous screaming. His voice sounded hoarse because of them. "And Byakuya... why is he there? And why does he look like a stick?"

"It seems like the killings here resemble this killing school life..." Nagito assumed, his face pale. "And they happened inside Hope's Peak."

"How can something like that happen?!" Sonia seemed shocked. "The teachers... the police... someone could have stopped that!"

"What if it was World Ender who initiated it?" Gundham asked, although he didn't look too confident. 

"If Byakuya were alive, we would know the details..." Nagito sighed. 

The students kept discussing how Byakuya could have told them about it, some arguing he couldn't because he had forgotten, others saying he simply had no chance to tell them. However, Izuru noticed Peko wasn't taking part in the discussion. The file wasn't what she was expecting to see. He found himself wondering what she was planning exactly. He had concluded that after what happened, she would only move to take revenge and become passive afterwards. Perhaps she also wanted to take revenge against who put them in their situation as well. Byakuya was irrelevant. Monokuma was only toying with them and Peko wasn't going to take the bait.   
After waiting for the conversation to evolve, it went back again to their school memories. Of course, Monokuma triggered this change. He was always bargaining with them. If only they knew what they had lost, they probably wouldn't be so willing. If they remembered... Izuru wasn't sure of what would happen if everyone happened to remember at the same time. What they would do, he couldn't predict it. But he was sure there would be despair. Tons of it. And Monokuma would only laugh. At least he didn't have the power to give them back. 

Eventually, the group decided to head to the only ride they hadn't visited yet and also required everyone to be there in order to ride: the Funhouse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Instead of posting later than usual, I ended up posting sooner than usual instead. I won't have my computer this week to write or go online, though.  
> As always, thanks for all of your support! See you next week!


	11. Cheap Trick

"The Funhouse is that strange looking building with the train, right?" Sonia asked as the group walked across the theme park. They had agreed to go to the Funhouse, the only building they hadn't visited yet. After all, they still hadn't found the ship parts Monokuma promised them. 

"Ship parts... and the student profiles." Nagito was thinking aloud. "Maybe we can find out what Hajime's talent was. I know he's dead and all... but I'm still curious." Nobody seemed to find any suitable words as reply to his comment. Izuru had already noticed they'd gladly talk about the students who were murdered, but they hesitated in case they had been executed. It wasn't so surprising. They had killed another person, after all.

"We are plunging ourselves right into Monokuma's trap..." Gundham remarked as they walked, dismissing Nagito. He laughed afterwards. "Interesting! Let's see where it takes us!"

Once they arrived in front of the train, they seemed to hesitate about what to do next. Sonia and Chiaki looked especially concerned. 

"I still don't think this is a good idea..." Chiaki said, staring at the train. The locomotive's front had Monokuma's face on it. "But if you're all going, I'll go too."

"It can't be that bad. The ride actually looks kinda boring." Akane said, already getting inside the train. The wagons also held two people per row, similarly to the rollercoaster.

Monokuma popped out of nowhere, standing on top of the train. "Come on! It's not like it's going to fly or speed up! There's no need to be so afraid!"

"That just makes it sound more suspicious!" Kazuichi accused him. Nekomaru ended up pushing him inside the wagon again and blocking his way out. The students didn't take long to ride the train, which began to slowly move forward. The lack of sudden acceleration made Kazuichi calm down for once.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Monokuma's voice came from speakers in the train as it went inside a dimly lit tunnel. "This train is heading towards the Funhouse! Please be careful of where you step. It's also dangerous to stand up all of a sudden!"

Izuru tensed up as he heard Monokuma talk. A sudden feeling of urgency told him something was about to happen. Gundham, who was sitting by his side, noticed his reaction. "What is it?" he asked.

His gut feeling soon proved to be on the right track. White smoke began to seep out of the walls of the cave and cover it, clouding their vision. Panic broke out in the wagon.

"It was a trap after all" Nekomaru shouted. Everyone tried to get up and jump out of the wagon, but the gas seemed to be of quick effect. They could barely get up before sinking back into their seat again, their legs giving in. Even Nekomaru had to sit back down. Izuru just closed his eyes and let the smoke take him. If Monokuma had planned to knock them out, so be it. He felt Gundham trying to shake him awake, but the feeling was soon gone as well, as their consciousness faded. 

Izuru wasn't sure of how much time had passed until he woke up. Hie eyelids felt heavy, but he still pushed himself to stand on his feet. He found himself in a room he had never seen before. He assumed he was inside the Funhouse, but the design was certainly an eyesore: a small room decorated in pink and red. The walls were white, but had a projection on them of a red background, with white silhouettes of strawberries slowly falling down. A pink slide and a set of swings of the same colour also stood nearby. Yet, they were certainly indoors. He moved to find sunflowers growing in a big pot close to him. He hadn't expected the Funhouse to look so strange. 

"Where are we?..." Sonia's voice came behind him. She was also confused. Izuru turned to notice the other students starting to get up as well. One after another, everyone reacted in a similar way. 

"I assume... this was the gas's doing..." Gundham remarked after her, wobbling slightly on his feet. 

"In that case, we must be inside the Funhouse." Nagito guessed. He was merely sitting on the floor, but seemed deep in thought. He looked around to the rest of his classmates and attempted to get up afterwards. 

"Welcome to Strawberry House!" Monokuma's voice startled everyone in the room. He had appeared on top of the slide.

"Huh? Weren't we in the Funhouse?" Kazuichi asked him, now more confused.

"Of course. Strawberry House is only part of the Funhouse!" Monokuma rolled down the slide, then somehow produced a map and showed it to the group. "This is the entirety of the Strawberry House! You're currently at the indoor park on the third floor! On the second floor, I've prepared a lounge and five guestrooms!" he pointed at said part of the map. "There's two Deluxe Rooms, soundproof and with great air insulation... a Standard Room with so-so insulation but still pretty decent, and two Crummy Rooms with severe airflow problems!" Izuru was starting to see where Monokuma's plan was going. He looked at the others to see if anyone else had noticed it yet, but to no avail. "On the first floor, there's the Final Dead Room, all BOOM! There's also the Strawberry Hall. If you pass through it, you'll reach the Strawberry Tower! You should visit it!" He put away the map, again by some odd way impossible to describe. "You should see the building by yourselves! Any questions?"

"...What are you planning to make us do here?" Gundham asked. He looked severely worried. 

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Monokuma smiled. A short laugh came out. "This is the motive this time... an Escape Game! Like Hope's Peak Academy back then, the Funhouse is a closed space! The only way to get out is to kill! I'll let you guys out when the next killing happens!" After shocking everyone, he laughed happily. "Let the game begin!" He left the room in a rush, still cackling.

"...What the fuck?!" Kazuichi summed up the feelings of everyone in the room with a single sentence.

"I knew this was a trap, but I didn't expect it to be... like this." Nagito sighed. 

"Why don't we look for an exit for now?" Chiaki asked. She didn't look so shocked compared to the others, who were still processing the information and coming up with what-ifs for the time they fell asleep.

"Exit..." Nagito looked at her with a hint of confusion. "Is there even an exit? There would be no motive with an exit."

"We got in, so there must be a way to get out." Peko said. Although she had always been direct, she was much more blunt than usual. "Giving up now is useless."

"Amazing... Refusing to give up until the very end..." Nagito suddenly sounded excited. "That must be hope!" Izuru made a humming sound and looked away, discreetly disagreeing with him. "Then, let's explore the building!"

"Exploring on your own is dangerous..." Chiaki observed. "It'd be safer to go with someone."

"Miss Sonia!" Kazuichi was the first one to speak up, seeing his golden chance. "Maybe we should-- Wait, where is she?"

"She already left with Gundham" Nekomaru said. 

Izuru turned around to leave on his own while Kazuichi took the spotlight with his loud complaining, but Ibuki quickly grabbed him by the hair. "You're not planning on going all 'lone wolf' again, huh? Ibuki will pair you up with someone!"

"There's really no need." he argued weakly, knowing it was useless either way. That girl was strangely determined.

"No, no. You need to make friends!" she shut him off as fast as he expected. "Let's see... How about Kazuichi?" she said, pointing at him.

"What? Go with him?!" The mechanic certainly didn't look up for it. "No way. Chiaki! Can I go with you?..."

"Sure, you can join us." Nagito replied. It seemed he had already paired up with her for some reason. "Do you really dislike Izuru that much?"

"Ugh..." he looked back at Ibuki, considering his options. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I prefer to go with you rather than with him." he decided, walking towards the pair and leaving with them.

"Okay, then... oh? Did everyone leave already?" Ibuki looked slightly frustrated. "Why are they all so suspicious of you? Is it the hair?!"

"Why are you bothering to do this?" Izuru asked her, finally admitting he had no idea of what she was attempting. "If you insist so much, they'll suspect of you too."

"I don't want us to suspect each other, that's all." she admitted, looking serious. "You haven't done anything wrong."

He stood silent for a moment. She didn't look the type, but she was a kind person. He wondered why she had decided to look after him, given he had done nothing to help the group so far. "Fine. Let's go." he ended up agreeing. Ibuki kept running her mouth as the walked down the stairs. The strawberry patterns never stopped, anywhere he looked. Standing them for more than a few days was going to be a challenge.  
Once on the second floor, Ibuki wanted to examine the guestrooms, but Izuru ended up standing in front of the lounge, where Sonia and Gundham also were. There was a clock on a wall, a telephone on a corner, and a portrait on the opposite wall. As soon as he gave it a better look, he understood why the pair was staring at it. It displayed an elder man in a suit, looking solemnly at the viewer. The concerning thing was the placard on the frame, which read "Hope's Peak Academy Founder: Izuru Kamukura". He had to make some sort of noise when he noticed the portrait, as Sonia turned back to face him.

"Oh--" she seemed surprised. "Izuru... do you know this man?" she ended up asking him. Gundham had also turned and was listening with interest.

"No." he said. He had no idea of why Monokuma had decided to pull out such a thing. Maybe he was taunting him for fun. Or maybe he was trying to send some kind of message. "Although it's unnerving." Some worry managed to appear on his expression.

"You think so too?..." Sonia didn't look too convinced. "Maybe Monokuma put this here on purpose..." she wondered.

Izuru took his chance to scurry out of the lounge, just as Ibuki came from a room. 

"The deluxe rooms are amazing! They have a sky pattern in the walls, with a rainbow... and this huge bed!" she told him, trying to get him to see it by himself.

"I'll take your word for it. Maybe we should check the first floor." he tried to insist. He didn't want to deal with someone else questioning the portrait. "There's nothing to see in the lounge aside from strawberries." 

"Does the colour red make you angry? That's kinda funny." Ibuki observed, giving in and walking with him downstairs. Maybe he did sound more annoyed than usual, but only because of the portrait.  
Once on the first floor, they found a pair of bathrooms. Apparently, they were supposed to be shared by everyone, as the rooms didn't have their own bathrooms like their cottages. There was also a door that called attention for being different than the others. It had the face of a strange clown drawn on it. On top, the words "Final Dead Room" were written crudely. Nagito was also standing in front of it, while Kazuichi seemed to be lurking nearby with Chiaki. As soon as he stepped closer, Monokuma came up.

"Allow me to explain!" he stood in front of the door. "This is a challenge given to all of you! Only those who win the Life-Threatening Game occurring in the room will have access to the Octagon! The fabled holy land where the Ultimate Weapon sleeps!" He laughed softly. "If you're feeling heroic... you should challenge it!" After saying his piece, he disappeared as always.

"Huh? Risk your life for a weapon?" Ibuki wondered.

"What a waste of time." Izuru shook his head. He turned to keep searching around the floor. There was an elevator and a corridor leading to what he assumed to be Strawberry Tower. They ended up going inside it. The door had a strange mechanism to open, only unlocking when the button next to it was pressed. The tower itself was pretty unremarkable, of a completely circular shape, with white walls and projections of different shades of red on the walls. At the far back, there was a door with the drawing of grapes over it, which didn't budge when he attempted to open it. After some discussing with Ibuki, they decided to head for the elevator inside the house. Once back inside, most students had gathered around the elevator. Monokuma was standing nearby.

"Where were you?" Gundham asked them as they walked in. "I swear, making an overlord wait like this..." he shook his head, as if he were sparing their life in some way.

"Monokuma said there are other houses connected by this elevator" Nagito explained. "But we all had to ride it together this time."

"This elevator is special!" Monokuma interrupted them. "It travels through a rail, so it can even move horizontally! That's the fun of the Funhouse!" 

"So the elevator goes to another building?" Ibuki asked.

"Yup! To Grape House!" Monokuma nodded. "I'll be going ahead. You guys take the elevator!"

Izuru quickly understood the meaning in the door of the Strawberry Tower. Of course, it had to lead to Grape House. Or maybe the door was just a decoy. He'd have to make sure later. He thought in silence as everyone walked in the elevator. The size was close to the one taking them to the class trials and, given the faces of the students, he wasn't the only one to realize the similarity. 

"Is it moving?" Kazuichi asked. "It's not... vibrating that much."

"Maybe it's not moving..." Akane guessed. "We should open the door and find out!"

"Wait! Don't do that!" Sonia suddenly got startled at Akane's proposal.

"Don't worry! I wasn't really going to..." As she tried to justify herself, the doors of the elevator suddenly opened on their own. "Huh?"

Grape House was almost identical to Strawberry House. Instead of red patterns, it had green patterns of grapes everywhere instead, projecting in the same manner. The only differences Izuru noticed was an statue of a person on the center of the room, and a giant statue of grapes where the Final Dead Room should be. Actually, the houses were mirrored, but Grape House seemed hexagonal rather than squared. Before he could complete his analysis, Monokuma popped out of nowhere, welcoming them and carrying a map of Grape House with him. The second floor also had a lounge and five rooms. The third floor, however, was some kind of museum dedicated to Monokuma. The corridor that, in Strawberry House, lead to Strawberry Tower, lead to Grape Tower in this case. The fact alone was enough to make Izuru slightly suspicious. The architecture was certainly confusing. As before, Monokuma asked for questions at the end of his explanation.

"Yeah." Akane said. "I'm starting to get hungry. Where's the food anyways?"

Monokuma stood silent for a moment. "Is that necessary?" he asked. 

"What? Of course it is!" she suddenly seemed alarmed, with good reason. Izuru finally could say he understood what Monokuma planned. He sure wanted to make of this motive a quick one.

"It's supposed to be an escape game. There's no tension without a time limit!" the bear said, giggling to himself. "So, I decided to use your stomachs as the time limit!"

"What do you mean?!" Kazuichi asked. He was well aware of what it meant, but he didn't want to admit it.

"Either we kill, or we starve to death." Izuru said. He didn't look phased by it at all.

"W-what the heck?!" Akane had gone pale at the realization.

"Exactly!" Monokuma said, laughing. He calmed down before speaking again, although he still kept a wide grin on his face. "I recommend you to make your kill as soon as possible... It'll be too late if you have no energy left!" He laughed again, finding the situation hilarious.

"Is he serious?..." Peko spoke in a low voice. It seemed she had been dragged around with Akane and Nekomaru.

"No food?" Akane seemed troubled. "I'm not fine with that! I can take anything but that!"

"This is no time to panic!" Nekomaru's voice roared through the room, making everyone go silent. It seemed he was enjoying pulling that trick out. 

"He's right. We should explore the building for now." Nagito agreed. "After all... if you don't give up, you're sure to find hope."

Although everyone was concerned, panic soon died out as they decided to explore Grape House, with the same pairings as before, then putting everyone's discoveries together. The second floor of the building was the same as Strawberry House. Thanks to Chiaki and going back and forth to both houses, they discovered Grape Tower and Strawberry Tower were the same place. The light only changed colours to indicate the change and if someone was in one of the towers, the other door wouldn't open. 

The building was certainly strange, although Izuru had to admit the hunger limit was short of a cheap trick. He had been surprised, but not in a good way. He had no idea he could feel disappointment thanks to a surprise, too.


	12. Challenge

Most of the students were discouraged once they had finished exploring both of the houses. The discovery of Strawberry Tower and Grape Tower being the same place had been a good one, but it was all they could accomplish. All they wanted was an exit. At least, they discovered the phones in the lounge were able to call the other house, but not much else. Kazuichi was the most discouraged one after finding out the so-called ship parts were for a radio controlled toy instead of for a life-sized ship. 

"Everyone!" Sonia called. All of the students but Gundham and her had gathered in the first floor of Grape House to talk, but she seemed to be in a hurry. "The clock on the lounge says it's past 10PM, but there's been no Monokuma Announcement!"

"Huh? That's odd..." Chiaki commented. "Maybe the clock's time is wrong."

"Wrong!" Monokuma, yet again, appeared out of nowhere. Barely anyone was surprised anymore. "Every single day until now I've let you know when it's morning and night on this island... Did you guys mistake me for an alarm clock!?" he suddenly looked annoyed. 

"What do you mean?" Akane asked. Since he had said there would be no food until they got out, she was being even more pushy around the bear.

"The Monokuma Announcements are on hiatus until you get out of here." he said. "After all, you don't care since there's no windows in here."

"That's just why we need them!" Kazuichi argued. 

"I've thought of something to replace them." Monokuma chuckled. "But I'll tell you later on." he left with those cryptic words, laughing on his way out of the room.

"Well... We can always keep track of time with the clocks of the lounges." Nagito suggested. "There's one in each house."

"It's 10PM..." Chiaki tried to hold back a yawn. "I'm feeling sleepy after hearing that..."

"It may be better to rest and conserve our energy if there's no food..." Nagito seemed to be thinking, looking down as he talked. After a moment, he smiled and looked up again. "Let's decide our room assignments."

"Assignments?" Gundham didn't seem to understand.

"Well, there's five guestrooms in each house, enough for everyone." He explained. "So we should first decide who'll stay in each house."

"Why don't we split it between boys and girls?" Chiaki suggested.

"I think it's a good idea!" Sonia agreed. After all, they were exactly five boys and five girls.

"Ladies first, then..." Gundham spoke up. He rose his voice dramatically all of a sudden. "Now then, decide which house you would like!"

"Let's go with Grape House." Chiaki said. She seemed oddly bent with taking decisions that day. "Staring at a red room is going to strain my eyes..."

"Then, the men will get Strawberry House!" Nekomaru nodded in agreement. 

"There are rooms of varying quality..." Nagito reminded everyone. "We should decide those next."

The two groups began discussing who would stay at each room. Izuru couldn't listen in to the girls, as he was suddenly thrown in a game of Rock Paper Scissors with the boys to decide who would sleep in which room. Nekomaru was the one to suggest it. Nagito, of course, won and settled for a Deluxe Room. Izuru winded up in the third place, getting the Standard Room. Gundham got the other Deluxe Room. Nekomaru and Kazuichi were left with a Crummy Room.

"Hey, did you pick your rooms as well?" Nagito asked the girls as the battle over the rooms was over.

"Yeah." Chiaki said. "We discussed it a bit and settled it quickly." Then she proceeded to explain what they had arranged. Apparently, Akane and Peko wanted the Crummy Rooms. Chiaki and Sonia would be staying at the Deluxe rooms, and Ibuki at the Standard Room.

"Huh? Why do you two want the crappy rooms?" Kazuichi asked.

"It's just because I won't be able to hear what's happening outside in the other rooms." Peko said, not looking at him directly.

"Bah, it's good enough for me." Akane justified herself. "It's still a palace compared to my home."

"Well then, it's decided!" Nekomaru said. "We should turn in for today."

The two groups headed for their respective houses, the boys having to take the elevator and not talking in the whole way there. It wasn't out of tiredness, but out of nervousness. Izuru could definitely see it. They said good night to each other after they arrived to the second floor, but everyone had concerned looks on their faces. Even Nekomaru, who had been so encouraging and positive so far. The situation was worrying. He couldn't blame them for being nervous.  
The Standard Room was also an eyesore. The floor was covered with a bright pink carpet with images of strawberries. The walls were halfway purple with a dotted pattern and halfway pink with even more patterns of strawberries. The bed looked comfy enough, but the sheets were also of a horribly bright shade of pink. There was even a strawberry shaped lamp hanging from the ceiling. There was also a wooden desk on a corner, surprisingly plan compared to the rest of the room. Izuru tried to not think about how the clash of colours hurt his eyes and decided to go to sleep right away instead. At least, if his eyes were closed, he wouldn't see it.

When he woke up, he wasn't completely sure of what time it was. He was almost tempted to not go find out and figure it out himself instead... until he remembered he had something to do. He quickly got ready and went out of the room, finding Kazuichi and Gundham sitting on the lounge. They were almost comically avoiding each other, sitting as far from one another as possible but still in the same room. Before any of them could ask him again about the portrait of the founder, he walked down the stairs towards the first floor. His destination was the Final Dead Room. He had no need for a weapon, but the house was giving him too many question and too few answers. Possibly, some of them would be solved once he cleared the little game Monokuma had prepared. As his hand gripped the handle, someone called him.

"What are you doing?..." Sonia's voice sounded hesitant. She was standing nearby, taking with Ibuki, and both of them had noticed him approach the door.

Before any of them could object to his decision, he opened the door and walked inside. As soon as stepped in, the door locked behind him with a metallic sound. 

The room itself was remarkably cramped. The first thing he saw was another door to the end of the room, blocked by heavy iron bars. There was a small digital panel with numbers and lights at its side. On the nearby corner laid a laptop on a small table. 

"Hawawa! I thought the door finally opened, and it locked again!" Monomi threw him off his train of thought, lamenting as she leaned against a wall.

"So you were stuck here." Izuru said. He hadn't seen her in a while. Did that mean she had tried to challenge the room on her own?

"Ah! Izuru?!" She jumped almost up to his height out of surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same." he said.

"I thought that maybe the exit was here..." she tried to explain, but her eyes were somehow watery. Izuru seemed to have lost interest in the conversation, as he was looking at the numbers and words painted on the walls. "A-Are you planning to do the Life-Threatening Game?... You said yourself that it was a waste of time!"

"Yes." he just replied. He was still looking around the room, opening the drawers of the desks. So, Monomi had heard him say those words. "It's the only way to get out." he added a few seconds later.

"O-okay... then I'll help you! If there's anything you don't understand, ask your teacher!" Monomi posed proudly. Izuru didn't even look at her and continued to examine the room. 

He kept ignoring her poorly thought hints during the time he spent solving the riddles in the room. He felt tempted to tell her to stop talking, or even kick her, but he figured he shouldn't do it. The only decision he had taken so far and wasn't going to retract on, was that he wouldn't hurt or kill anyone. He wasn't too sure of why he had taken the decision in the first place, but he tried to not think about it. Actually, those riddles were so boring he couldn't help but think about it. He was being unusually nervous, friendly, unable to take decisions... He didn't understand what was happening to him. His concern didn't show on his face as he kept working on solving the problems, mostly because he didn't want Monomi asking him. After all, she planned to never let him graduate in the first place, trap him in Jabberwock Island... and probably pull the plug while he was still inside. To be fair, he hadn't expected to be there. Either the program had made a mistake, or it was Monokuma's way to get back at him.  
He finally managed to get those thoughts out of his head as he put the final password on the device of the wall. The numbers changed to the word "OPEN" in red, indicating he had unlocked the door.

The iron bars lifted slowly, making screeching sounds giving away their rusted state. At the same time, the floor slightly rumbled as a trapdoor opened in the middle of the room. From it, a round table ascended, having only a red cloth on it, along with a gun and what looked like a camera pointing at it.

"Yay! We cleared it!" Monomi cheered.

"We?" Izuru couldn't help but find her remark amusing. She hadn't done anything at all and he had been ignoring her most of the time. He walked towards the table showcasing the gun, which he identified as a small revolver. "This isn't over."

"What do you mean?" Monomi looked worried, walking to the exit door they had supposedly unlocked. She pushed and pulled all she was able to, but it wouldn't move. "But... but we cleared it!..."

"I told you this isn't over." he just replied.

"I thought the thing I found earlier was just joking around..." Monomi seemed even more nervous, her little ears flopping down flat against her head. "When I first arrived I received a letter... I thought it was a prank, so I didn't tell you..."

Izuru already imagined what he was supposed to do, regardless, he extended his hands towards Monomi, asking her silently to hand it over. She hesitated, but ended up giving it to him. He mostly skimmed over it until he reached the truly important part and read it aloud. "Life-Threatening Roulette... which is a fancy term for Russian Roulette." He put the letter on the table and picked up the revolver. "That's what this is for."

"N-No! You can't! It's too dangerous!" Monomi panicked, jumping up in the air again.

"You'd be relieved if I died here, anyway." Izuru replied. He didn't imply anything bad with his words... maybe a little. He lifted up the revolver to his head.

"Wait!" She seemed more panicked yet. "You have to remove the bullets first!"

His finger was already on the trigger, but he lowered the weapon. "Fine." he said. There were six bullets in the cylinder, making it an standard revolver. He opened it and removed five of them, leaving them on the table, then spun the cylinder. "Happy now?"

"S-Still!... I'd rather you didn't..." Monomi stuttered, trying to get him to stop.

Ignoring her complaints, Izuru lifted up the gun, pressed against his temple. His finger quickly found the trigger and pulled it without hesitation. There was only one in a sixth chance of dying. 

"Click"

That sound had been the exit unlocking. No bullet fired. Izuru put the revolver back to its place, apparently unamused. Monomi let out the breath she had been holding since he put the gun to his temple. Without saying another word, he walked up to the door and opened it. 

The Octagon was only a room filled with weapons. There were boxes, racks and shelves piled up with knives, swords, spears, even handguns and rifles. It was a rather remarkable armory, but not what Izuru had expected.

"Congratulations, Izuru!" Monokuma popped out of nowhere and was now standing on a box. "I'm not surprised you cleared the Final Dead Room, but I was expecting you to pick a higher difficulty level!"

"I supposed those rewards would be better for other students." he replied. He leaned on the door, closing it and blocking Monomi from coming out after him. He heard a thumping sound as he did it. He probably had hit Monomi right on the nose with it.

"Well, you're probably right." Monokuma chuckled. "Still, Izuru, you've been kinda disappointing so far. I thought that by leaving you free you'd spice things up..."

"What did you expect me to do?" he asked. 

"Anything, really. Stir up suspicion, maybe create an unsolvable riddle... Maybe kill someone?" Monokuma replied. "But you've done nothing at all! It makes me angry and it disappoints the readers!" He waved his hands angrily. "That's it, no price for you! Just the Octagon and the Ultimate Weapon!" He disappeared behind the box after saying those words.

Izuru walked aimlessly through the Octagon, watching the weapons stored without too much interest. There were even grenades and rocket launchers. Someone could wreck the whole island with them if they wanted. He wondered if that was what Monokuma wanted him to do... probably not. It wasn't despair-inducing enough. What Monokuma wanted was mistrust, friends killing friends. Or so he believed. He could have gone to easier extents to perform his plan... Not like he claimed to know what Monokuma was thinking about. He had to admit it would have been a lot easier if he hadn't been around. He had his own plan and intentions, and being involved in the game wasn't something he expected. He wondered for a moment why Monomi hadn't followed him when he stopped blocking the door, but he assumed Monokuma prevented her from doing it.

Finally, a window caught his attention. There were no windows inside the Funhouse, but the one he was seeing was suspiciously standing out. As he peeked through it, he suddenly understood why.

"Ah... so that hatch door over there must be..." he mumbled to himself. Interesting. It would probably be of help.

His options were even more unclear now. He could continue doing nothing, help the students, or obey Monokuma's plans for him. He knew the most sensible option was to keep doing nothing at all, but he felt something was wrong, missing.

Maybe, he just couldn't stay idle forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm slowing down in writing because my sleep habits have been... questionable lately.  
> I hope I'll still able to deliver weekly. I have two more chapters ready as of today, at least.


	13. Crawl

After Izuru went out using the hatch door, he found himself on the lounge of the Grape House. Luckily, there was no one around to see him. He made his way back to Strawberry House in order to stay in his room and probably do nothing else for the rest of the day. He luckily didn't bump into Ibuki, or she'd have tried to rope him up into doing something. Instead, he ran into Gundham at the first floor of Strawberry House.

"I heard you challenged the Final Dead Room." he said. "If you have come out of it alive... It cannot be so hard."

"So?" Izuru didn't look interested at all.

"It means that it's not challenge at all for the Overlord of Ice." he said, boasting, but then gave him a harsh glare. "You'd better not be planning to use the Ultimate Weapon against us, fiend... I would prevent you from doing so."

"Right." Still, no interest. He knew Gundham had a legitimate reason to talk to him.

"Apparently, Monokuma wants us to gather at the Grape Tower tomorrow at 7AM." he said after sighing. "He told me to inform everyone else... I am no deliveryman but I shall stay my hand with that bear... for now."

"Thanks." Izuru assumed the conversation was over and headed to the stairs, deciding to spend the rest of the day in his room to conserve his energy. Staying still in one room was incredibly boring and he kept dozing off from time to time, getting up to check the time every few hours. He wasn't sure if what would kill him first would be hunger or boredom.

Night came, although it meant no visible difference inside the building. Izuru was half sleeping in the room, already tired from it, and was debating whether to stay there or go somewhere else. That is, until he heard a sound. Someone was attempting to open his door. He pretended to be still asleep in a messy position. A leg was hanging from the edge of the bed and his hair was sprawled everywhere. Whoever was walking in his room knew what they were doing: they were being silent, barely opening the door enough to slip in and not let light inside. They barely closed it afterwards. Slow steps approached his bed. He heard a faint metallic sound... which was his cue to stop messing around. 

He moved all of a sudden, surprising them, and used the leg hanging to kick them in the gut. The sound coming out of them confirmed him the identity of his attacker. He took the chance to recoil away from the bed and turn on the lights.

There was nobody there. A sword had been abandoned on the floor. The door was wide open. His attacker had probably tried to quickly kill him with a sword, yet, when he reacted, they retreated just as quickly. Izuru picked up the sword, assuming it had come from the Octagon. So, he wasn't the only one who had gone there. Someone else had played the Life-Threatening game that day. He closed the door again, jamming it shut using the sword. It seemed the whole point of not placing locks on those doors was to allow for easy murders at night. He would have to check later to see if the Deluxe Rooms had locks on them. After making sure his door couldn't be opened from outside, he went to sleep again.  
When he woke up again, he took a quick look outside to see the time. It was pretty close to 7AM,so he had to hurry over to Grape Tower. He left the sword in his room for the time being and walked outside. Everyone else had probably already gotten up, as Strawberry House was deserted. Once he arrived to Grape House by using the elevator, he found everyone walking towards the tower. He silently joined them, watching for their movements. Everyone was exhausted, sleepy, and moving sluggishly. After all, they had already been without food for almost two full days. They weren't going to last much longer.

"I'm hungry, tired... This is too much." Kazuichi complained once they arrived to Grape Tower. "At this rate, we're going to die for real..."

"Don't say things like that!" Nekomaru said, attempting to cheer him up and patting his back. "You'll bring us all down!"

"How can you be so positive about this?" Akane asked, visibly down as well.

"Somebody has to! Or else we'll all be discouraged!" he replied. He did have a point, but even Nekomaru would end up having a breaking point.

"Complaining so early in the morning?" Monokuma's voice startled them. Again, he had appeared from who knows where.

"W-what are you planning to make us do this time now that we're gathered here?" Sonia asked, hesitant. She knew it could be nothing good.

"You guys are losing your drive because you're unhealthy, right? So I want to make you healthy again." he said, posing triumphantly. In a way, Monomi sometimes behaved like him. "From this point forward, I'd like to make Monokuma Tai Chi part of your morning routine!"

"What? That's not going to help at all!" Ibuki complained. 

Even with all the complaints in the world, Monokuma carried on with his improvised class of Tai Chi, forcing everyone to mimic his movements. The moment he saw someone slack off, he would yell at them and force them to continue. Izuru was starting to get annoyed while he followed the class, thinking the motive was going too far. Everyone already looked pale when they goy up, and now they were sweating bullets because of the sudden exercise. At such a rate, they'd start to drop dead the next day, and it wasn't going to be pretty. It would be despair-inducing, indeed, but it all was so incredibly rushed to him that he was beginning to think Monokuma was in some sort of hurry. Was something happening in the outside world? He had no way to know. Hunger was starting to affect him as well, realizing he wasn't completely thinking straight.

The class was over after what seemed like hours, but Izuru was sure it had only been a few minutes. Most of the students were on the floor, exhausted. 

"We sure worked up a good sweat!" Monokuma said cheerfully. "Staying healthy is super important! That's why we'll do this again tomorrow, at the same hour!" His expression turned threatening. "I won't allow absences or tardies unless something very important happens!"

Silence enveloped the tower after Monokuma left. Only some heavy sighs and panting could be heard. After some time, some students began to get up slowly. A few of them were even dizzy and had to support themselves on the smooth walls of the tower.

"Guys... I'm not gonna last until tomorrow at this rate." Akane said in a low voice. Her stomach grumbled loudly. 

"How long is this going to last?..." Kazuichi said, his voice trembling. "I don't want to die in a place like this..."

"Until the killing starts..." Nagito's voice was but a breathe, but everyone could hear it clearly.

"It seems..." Gundham said as he got up, wobbling on his feet. "The plausibility of those words is finally affecting us..." His hamsters seemed to be holding up fine, but he was probably feeding them seeds of the sunflowers he saw at Strawberry House. "I wouldn't be surprised if something actually happened..."

"If this goes on... we'll starve to death..." Kazuichi said, finally sitting up. "Before that happens, I'd rather..."

"What are you saying?" Chiaki asked in sudden alarm. She was even more sleepy than usual, but she had livened up as soon as she heard his words.

"Would you rather have us wait until we starve to death?!" he asked, angrily.

"I have something to show you, all of you." Izuru spoke up, cutting Kazuichi off before his panic started a fight. 

"Huh?" Nagito seemed surprised. He had managed to get up, but his back was hunched over. "What is it?"

"Follow me to my room and I'll show you. Those who are afraid I'm tricking you don't have to come." he said. After some silence and hesitation, a few people seemed willing to go with him. Nagito, Chiaki, Ibuki, Gundham and Nekomaru. More than half of the group. He looked over at the ones who remained sitting on the floor: Kazuichi, Akane, Peko and Sonia. "I won't take much of your time." he said before setting off to the elevator, walking at a slow pace. Only Nekomaru seemed to have enough energy left to walk at a normal speed, but Nagito seemed especially exhausted. When they reached his room, he stopped and turned towards the group. 

"Someone tried to kill me last night." he said. "I'm going to assume that none of you did it." After saying those words, he didn't wait for a reaction and opened the door of his room to pick up the sword and show it to them.

"What do you mean someone tried to kill you? With that sword?" Nekomaru demanded an explanation. Nagito looked only interested while the rest of the group had an expression between suspicion and shock. 

"Last night I heard someone open the door and footsteps. When I moved in a hurry to turn on the lights, they were gone and this was on the floor." Izuru explained.

"But where did they get that sword?" Ibuki asked. She was easily the most worried of the group.

"From the Octagon, I assume. It's an armory." he said. Of course, it wasn't the whole story, but it worked. "For the ones who don't know, I completed the Final Dead Room yesterday. I didn't take anything, but it seems I'm not the only one who reached it."

"How do we know you didn't just take the sword yourself and made this up?" Gundham asked. "It would be easy, considering you went there."

"You're free to doubt me." Izuru replied. He knew his story sounded sketchy at best. "I felt the need to warn you regardless of that."

"We should do something about the sword." Nagito suggested. "How about returning it to the Octagon?"

Chiaki seemed to have been thinking about it as well. "We should place it somewhere people can't reach... but if there's a whole armory there, it doesn't make much difference..."

"The Octagon can only be reached by those who complete the Final Dead Room. I can't think of a better place." Nagito seemed to insist with his idea.

"Hey, aren't we going to talk about how someone attempted murder?" Ibuki asked. There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment... until they started to discuss again where to put the sword. It seemed they doubted Izuru had actually been attacked. She looked at him to see if he was upset, but he seemed to feel fine.

"I'm not easily killed." he told Ibuki when he noticed her concern.

After some pointless bickering, they agreed the only place they could hide the sword was the Octagon. Hearing about what it actually was only made the students more nervous. Chiaki insisted on waiting until Izuru came in and out of the room, and he agreed. He actually just stood inside the Octagon for a few hours, knowing the other students were way too tired to stand around waiting for him. They'd eventually return to their rooms. Everyone was hungry. They barely had energy left to argue. Eventually, he left using the hatch leading to Grape House. After all, he couldn't use the same door he used to get inside. It only opened one way. After making sure everyone had returned to their rooms, he did the same.

Hours passed, but he couldn't tell the time anymore. He would wake up every now and then, bored of sleeping his way through the day, but at some point, he felt unable to move. Even lifting his head took a huge effort. His whole body felt heavy, made out of rocks he couldn't budge. Was it the true effect of hunger? He had gone for two full days without eating at that point. He was sure he could hold up better than most of the students so... if he was in such a pitiful state, how was everyone else? Could someone have already be about to die? He felt a hole in his stomach, his head pulsating faintly and making it hard to think... His consciousness kept drifting in and out, unaware of the time gone by.

At some point, he managed to gather enough energy to crawl out of bed. Crawling was the right word, as all he did was mostly let himself fall out of it with a thud on the ground. Then, he got up slowly to avoid getting more dizzy than he already was. As he reached for the handle of the door, the monitor in his room lit up. It had been so long since the last announcement, seeing one now could only mean one thing.

"A body has been discovered!" Monokuma's voice blared through the speakers. "Now then, after a certain amount of time has passed, the class trial will begin!"

Those words somehow gave him the energy he lacked to open the door. It seemed others at Strawberry House had also heard the announcement in their rooms, as he saw Kazuichi and Nekomaru shot out from their rooms almost at the same time. 

"Did you guys hear that?!" Nekomaru asked. "Does that mean someone is dead?!"

"We... we have to find it" Kazuichi said. He sounded exhausted and he probably wouldn't be able to move too well.

"...I'm supposing it was found in Grape House. We should hurry over there." Izuru suggested. There was no time to argue about what happened. After all, Monokuma's announcement had made it pretty clear. 

Izuru hadn't taken a course of action for the case yet... but something told him it was too soon to choose one for the time being. They hadn't even found the corpse. Too many things could change between the discovery and the trial.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can tell DR3 is going to mess up with my ideas for Izuru in this fic, so I'll say it again: I won't backtrack from pre-established ideas I've already mentioned in previous chapters or just happened to have written already before the specific episode. 
> 
> That said, there may be a small stop in publishing soon. A missing week in which I won't be able to access my computer. I'll be more specific next week, probably.


	14. Relevant

The boys at Strawberry House began to walk downstairs as fast as they could, still feeling incredibly weak from hunger. As they reached the elevator, they saw Nagito examining it.

"I'm afraid it's broken." he said as he noticed them approaching, then pointed at the button. Something had crushed the button, which was almost folded in half and hanging from the panel by only one cable. The inner workings seemed smashed as well. Whoever had broken it did it in only one blow, but a strong one.

"Where were you?" Kazuichi asked. It seemed he had enough energies to argue although he had almost fallen down the stairs a moment before.

"I was in the bathroom when the announcement played." he said. "Who could have died?... I thought it would have been at Grape House, but we can't reach it."

"I can't even move..." Kazuichi complained loudly. "How does the bear expect us to do anything like this?"

"If we can't go there... we should at least call them." Izuru said. He could perfectly see the next question coming.

"What do you mean call them?" Kazuichi, of course, snapped right back at him.

"The telephone at the lounge connects both houses. We can call them from there. Don't you remember that we talked about this?" Izuru explained, and also added a question of his own.

"Ah, you're right. We should hurry over and do that." Nagito agreed, trying to smile but still looking tired. 

Walking the stairs back up was straight-up torture. As they caught their breath, Nekomaru was the first one to pick up the receiver and push the green button.

"Is it working?" Kazuichi asked him between pants. He was sitting at one of the chairs and trying not to slip down to the floor.

"It's making a noise. I think it's ringing at the other side." Nekomaru said. However, they ended up waiting for a while. As they waited, Izuru checked out the clock. It was half past seven in the morning, so they had missed Monokuma Tai Chi. They couldn't do anything about it with a broken elevator.

"Oh, Chiaki?" Nekomaru stood up straight all of a sudden, almost yanking the phone with him. He was so tall, he had to crouch in order to be able to use it. "Yeah, we can't use the elevator! Someone broke it." So, he was talking over the phone with Chiaki. "And we can't open the door in Strawberry Tower to your side, so we're stuck here."

"Ask her what happened." Izuru hurried him. He had a faint suspicion and decided to walk closer and listen in to the receiver. He was standing a little too close to Nekomaru, but it didn't really matter.

"There was a body discovery announcement earlier..." Nekomaru began, but Chiaki replied almost instantly as she understood what he meant.

"We found Gundham at Grape House's lounge..." she said. The quality of the transmission wasn't too good, but the meaning of her words wasn't lost at all.

"Gundham?!" Nekomaru shouted, right into Izuru's ear, who had to step away. "If only we were able to get there...!"

"Is there a way for you guys to come here?" he heard Chiaki ask.

"Kazuichi could fix the elevator." Izuru suggested, as he heard her speak. The mechanic had fallen asleep while sitting on the chair at some point. They'd have to fill him in later.

The call ended soon afterwards. There was little else to say and they all still felt exhausted. Nagito was the one to wake Kazuichi up and explain what had happened to him. He somehow was too tired to react. 

"Gundham?... Dead?" he mumbled. "Guys, I don't think I can repair the elevator, I'm beat..."

"Don't give up hope, Kazuichi! We need your talent now!" Nagito tried to encourage him. "But still, we're missing the Monokuma file..."

"Did someone say my name?" Monokuma's voice suddenly startled them. He was standing at the entrance of the lounge. Kazuichi failed to react by screaming like he'd usually do. His eyelids were dropping again.

"It seems you guys have noticed that the incident has taken place, so this is for you!" He took out of seemingly nowhere a small package for each of them. "Red bean bread and milk!" Kazuichi shot out of his seat immediately at the mention of food. The stomachs of everyone gathered there growled in unison. "And, as a bonus item, the Monokuma file!" He showed the small tablet he always gave out at the start of investigation and placed it along with the bags. "Satisfy your hunger with this and do your best on the investigation." After that, he left the way he came from.

"Why is the Monokuma file treated as a bonus item?" Nagito wondered. 

"Who cares?!" Kazuichi had already jumped ahead to claim a bag. "Food comes first!"

"Even if you guys eat... could you hear me out while we're at it?" Nagito asked. He moved slowly towards a bag to pick it up and sat down to eat as well. Soon enough, the four of them had taken a seat and were eating their scarce meal together. It didn't matter if it wasn't much. After two days of starvation, it tasted like glory.

"What is it, then?" Izuru asked. He was eating slowly in order to not upset his stomach, as Nekomaru was, while Kazuichi had already devoured the bread. 

"I was thinking about what we should do, and wanted to discuss it with you." he replied. It seemed he had decided to go for the milk first.

"We can't go to Grape House because the killer broke the elevator, right?" Nekomaru assumed.

"Yeah, I'll fix it." Kazuichi said. "I don't know if I'll manage anything without parts, but they don't call me the Ultimate Mechanic for nothing." He boasted. It seemed he was finally regaining some vitality.

"The killer made a mistake... there's no way the Symbols of Hope will give up because of this setback." Nagito said, smiling. "So we need to do everything we can to prepare for the class trial, right?"

"I don't know how much we can do here, but I'm not giving up!" Nekomaru said, balling his hands into fists. "Now I can go at a hundred twenty percent again!"

"Hm... how did Gundham end up at Grape House?" Nagito asked. "Since the elevator is broken and all."

"He obviously took it before it was broken." Kazuichi answered. "I spent most of yesterday in my room... and I think most of us did, actually. I don't know if I heard him or anyone go out... Some footsteps, yeah, but not much."

"I was at Grape House with Akane for a while, but I think I spent the whole afternoon sleeping." Nekomaru added. "It must have been at some point after that."

"I returned to my room at noon and didn't come out of it since." Izuru also gave out his version. "I don't think we'll get much out of this, though."

"If you say it's useless, then it probably is. Sorry for wasting your time." Nagito smiled and got up, having finished eating.

"Oh, I should begin to repair the elevator right away." Kazuichi realized before running off to the first floor.

Nekomaru, who had been looking at the Monokuma file, called attention to it. "Look... it says Gundham's cause of death was a stab to his heart." He put the file on the table for the other two to see.

"That should have killed him instantly..." Izuru observed. "But it says he has wounds all over his arms and torso..."

"If that means he fought his attacker, we should be able to know who it is by checking if anyone else is wounded!" Nekomaru said. Considering the volume, it was a sudden idea of his.

"I don't think it's going to be that easy." Izuru replied. He already had a suspect in mind. He didn't even need to see the crime scene to know what had happened. How boring.

"Izuru..." Nagito looked up at him. "Are you not going to talk in the trial again?"

"My plans haven't changed." he replied. "You're on your own from this point forward." He decided to just get up and walk downstairs, maybe wait with Kazuichi as he finished repairing the elevator. Just as he reached the first floor, he realized it was probably a bad idea. The mechanic was working, yes, but he was in a bad mood. He went to Strawberry Tower instead. The door slid open right away as he pressed the button. No anomalies there, of course. He tried once again to open the door supposedly leading to Grape House, but it wouldn't budge. Of course it wouldn't. Maybe he'd spend the rest of the investigation at the tower... or at least until the elevator was repaired.

\---

Chiaki had spent the time examining the crime scene over and over. Nothing new seemed to turn up. Gundham was cold on the ground of the lounge, next to a bloodied maze. A large pool of blood had formed under him from the time he had spent lying there, dead.

Dead.

A word still horrible to think of, no matter how many times this had already happened. Ibuki, Akane and her were the only ones investigating. Sonia had moved to the first floor with Gundham's hamsters. She had found them hiding under a table close to their owner's body and she had taken them into her custody immediately. She had tried to ask them what happened, to no avail. Devas of Destruction or not, they couldn't talk. She needed a moment to be alone.

"So, if you say the Octagon is an armory..." Akane was tying to piece everything together from what Ibuki had explained to her when she wasn't paying attention. "That means someone fought Gundham with this maze... but the killing blow was another weapon. So whoever it was must still have it with them, right?! They can't go back to Strawberry House and drop it!"

"That's possible... but where would they keep it?" Chiaki asked. "That doesn't explain the rope around his legs, though..."

The Monokuma file neglected to mention it, but there was a broken rope around Gundham's left leg. Where the rest of the rope was remained a mystery, as well as the reason of it being there in the first place. 

"When are the Strawberry Guys going to arrive? We talked to them hours ago!" Ibuki complained. "Oh-- maybe Ibuki should go and check with Sonia, yeah?" Without waiting for a reply, she walked down the stairs.

"Damn it, I can't think with only that food... I'm still hungry!" Akane complained in turn. She was mostly frustrated at that point and turned her back on the body in order to sit down in a nearby chair. 

"They're all counting on us to solve this mystery." Chiaki told her in an attempt to motivate her. "The boys will be here soon, I think."

They heard a faint thud in the room. The floor rumbled just the slightest bit. When they turned their heads towards the source, they found Nagito standing next to the body and looking at it with an expression of curiosity on his face.

"Why... are you here?" Chiaki was the first one to react. Shouldn't he be at Strawberry House?

"Because I showed up!" Nagito replied cheerfully.

"What do you mean?! How did you even come here?" Akane got up all of a sudden, completely confused.

"Maybe... I teleported?" he said after a pause, still smiling. He was clearly being secretive about it. 

"Don't joke around!" Akane frowned. "How did you get here?"

At that moment, Ibuki came running up the stairs. "Hey! The Strawberry Guys are here and-- oh, hey Nagito!"

"I had something to tell you... but I suppose it's better if we're all together for that." Nagito said. "Let's go meet them!"

As he spoke, footsteps could be heard going up the stairs. The whole group was reunited, with Kazuichi on head complaining about how complicated it was for him to repair the elevator. He had no parts and had to resort to dismantling the button of the Strawberry Tower in order to fix the other one. 

"Kazuichi, did you look into what I asked you about?" Nagito quickly made his way to them as they walked in.

"Huh? Sure, but..." he took out a compass and handed it to Nagito. "I think it might be broken..."

"I didn't ask for your opinion. Just tell me the results." Nagito cut him off rather harshly.

Kazuichi got startled and gave out a nervous laugh. "The needle rotated 180 degrees while in the elevator..." he said. 

"Ah, just as I thought!" Nagito seemed pleased with himself. "Now, can I talk with you? There's something important I wanted to discuss."

Chiaki looked at everyone on the floor for their reaction. Akane seemed to suspect him heavily, staring at him with folded arms over her chest. The boys were mostly puzzled by his sudden forcefulness, as Ibuki. Sonia was carrying Gundham's hamsters on her arms and Peko was by her side, apparently trying to comfort her. Neither of them seemed to be paying attention. Curiously, Izuru was slightly frowning as he looked at Nagito. Maybe he had a bad feeling about this too.

"I cleared the Final Dead Room!" Nagito said with a smile on his face.

"Whaaaaat? You too?!" Ibuki seemed surprised. 

"I heard Izuru cleared it too..." Kazuichi replied once the initial surprise wore off. "But what was the Life-Threatening Game?"

"It wasn't life-treatening at all." Nagito answered. "It was just an escape game that ended with some Russian Roulette."

"Wait, what?! You could have blown your brains out with that!" Akane looked shocked, staring at both of the boys. 

"How many bullets did you leave in?" Izuru asked, looking at Nagito dead in the eye. "I went with one, but only because Monomi nagged me."

"Oh, so it would have been fine if I only used one?" he seemed confused. "I misunderstood and I thought I had to take one bullet out of the cylinder so... that's how I did it."

"That's-! The odds of surviving that!..." Sonia went pale at the realization.

"You're not called the Ultimate Lucky Student for nothing." Izuru observed. But he mostly said it so the others would rationalize it and move on. 

"Both of you did something like that so... casually..." Nekomaru looked upset. He almost seemed to want to scold them, but ended up holding back.

"Anyway, because I cleared it, I was able to obtain several rights." Nagito decided to continue with his explanation. "And traveling freely from Strawberry House to Grape House was one of them. Not only that, but I don't have to play the game again in order to do that... I wonder, why hadn't you explained that to them, Izuru? You played before I did."

"I didn't consider it relevant." he replied. Chiaki wasn't sure of how to read his expression, but he seemed lightly annoyed.

Chiaki barely had time to take in the shock in everyone's faces before Nagito kept talking, not wanting to be interrupted. "Because I cleared the game at the highest difficulty, I obtained quite an amazing prize as a reward." he said, taking a file out of his parka. It bore the symbol of the Future Foundation. 

"Isn't that what we got back at the rollercoaster?" Peko asked. She was standing right at the back, but she had been approaching as her curiosity was piqued. 

"It's a continuation of that." Nagito clarified. "There's even more detailed information about the killing school life than in the earlier file... order of the killings, killer in each case. Still, it has no relevance to us whatsoever!" he unexpectedly laughed, confusing everyone again.

"Then... why even mention it?" Peko narrowed her eyes. She probably believed Nagito was wasting their time on purpose at this point. 

"It wasn't completely useless. There are certain parallels between the killing school life and our situation." Nagito tried to justify himself, hiding the file back inside his parka. "The first murder involved someone important stabbed to death in an unexpected place... and the third murder were actually two killings that happened in succession." 

"That's odd..." Chiaki thought out loud without noticing. 

"That... can't be a coincidence." Sonia said. She was anxiously petting Jum-P, while the other hamsters had already grown accustomed to her and settled on her shoulders.

"By the way, apparently, the fourth murder was ruled out as a suicide." Nagito added.

"That's irrelevant." Izuru cut him off. Sonia was already rattled enough and his words had made her wince.

"I didn't mean it would be important... It could be, or maybe not." Nagito smirked. "I just wanted to tell you guys the truth."

"Are you sure you're not just trying to confuse us?!" Kazuichi was losing his patience.

"Jeez. If you're going to get like that, I won't say anything else. And I had learned more stuff too..." Nagito's demeanor took a turn again, scoffing at Kazuichi.

"Tell us everything you know already." Peko frowned at Nagito, looking even threatening. She acted that way since the last trial... no, since they found Fuyuhiko's body. It concerned Chiaki, but she didn't know what to do about it.

"Well, that file wasn't the only one I received." He took another file from his parka. This one was a black tome, with Hope's Peak Academy's crest on the cover.

"Does that... contain information about our stolen memories?" Chiaki asked. She was trying to take both Nagito's and Izuru's reaction at the same time. Nagito, because of what he could have learned. Izuru, because of how much the information could compromise him. 

"Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything about that." Nagito sighed. "They're just basic files about all of us... probably their state before we started taking classes there." Izuru frowned, but it was so subtle she almost thought she had imagined it. "I did find out something interesting in Hajime's file." He smiled as he said those words.

"What about him?" Nekomaru asked. Most of the students had grown uncomfortable as they heard his name. After all, the last time they saw him was confessing murder, and later executed. Chiaki also felt strange, as if the name were tainted. Mikan and Teruteru were also tainted names. Former friends who killed and died for their crime.

"It was always interesting that Hajime was the only one who didn't remember his talent..." Nagito continued, oblivious to the reaction of those around him. "It turns out he didn't have a talent at all. He was just some Reserve Course student from the Reserve Department." His expression grew sour with his last words.

"Huh?! The thing the files in the third island mentioned?" Kazuichi rubbed his hair from under his beanie, confused. "But... why was he here?"

"To be honest, that some nobody like him felt he could take an Ultimate's life... no, all of your lives..." Nagito's hands clenched into fists. "It's infuriating. Who did he think he was?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I think this is irrelevant right now." Izuru cut him off sharply. "There's not much time until the trial. If we don't solve what happened to Gundham... none of that will matter, because we will be dead."

Silence fell in the room. He had a point, but the atmosphere in the room grew to be almost oppressive. Nagito stared at him for what seemed like minutes.

"You're right. We can talk more about this later." he agreed, smiling back again. "I should go examine the corpse." After saying those words, he turned, walking back to the lounge. 

The hall stood in silence for some seconds until people started to go their separate ways. Nekomaru and Kazuichi walked towards the lounge as well to see exactly what happened, while Ibuki and Sonia went back downstairs. Peko walked into her room and so did Akane.

"I think Nagito may have forced my hand." Chiaki was surprise to see Izuru suddenly talking to her in a low voice when they were alone. "Count on some of my help during this trial."

"Why?" she asked. His actions didn't make sense considering what Nagito had been saying. Maybe there was a hidden meaning in his words that only Izuru understood.

He simply walked away towards the lounge as well. Chiaki wasn't sure of what to do, so she decided to keep en eye on both of them and hurried behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bad news, I will not be able to update next week since I'm out of the country and I won't have my computer with me. 
> 
> It's only a missing update, though! See you on September!


	15. Talkative

Gundham's corpse was an unusual sight.

He was lying face down on the floor, under a pool of his own blood. His eyes were wide open, caught in surprise. His mouth frozen in a grim gesture of a scream. There were wet strains on his clothes, probably soaked in blood from wounds not visible at first glance. The bloodied maze placed close to him could look like the obvious culprit of his wounds, but Izuru wanted to examine it more closely. Since Mikan was gone, giving good readings about the corpse was up to him.

Wait... why had he decided to help them again?

"You have to be kidding me..." Kazuichi's words sounded choked as he saw Gundham's body. He wished it could have been a dream. He almost wished he could be... happy to see his dead body. But, instead, he was faced with despair. Even if they didn't get along so well, they had been through a lot together. He took a grip of his beanie, ready to hide himself inside it even if such a thing was impossible.

Nekomaru didn't look much better. He had been the one trying to keep positive while they were stuck in the Funhouse, but he was reaching his limit. He had no words, only a long, drawn out stare at the body as he took in a friend had died. Another friend. And there was a murderer among them. The idea of a murderer finally got his legs moving forward. He had to remain strong for everyone.

Nagito... didn't feel anything. He was already examining the body up close, although not moving it too much. His face showed a hidden intention. An idea in germination. Something that wasn't quite finished but had a twisted version of hope inside it. His hope.

He was reading into it too much. He had to focus. When Nagito moved away from the body, he examined it himself. There wounds were everywhere. Some bones were broken, even. He could tell whoever killed him had taken extra precautions to hide something. Then, the killing blow. The stab straight to his heart. It was, actually, the only stabbing wound, and the maze couldn't have done that. Lastly, the rope around his leg. It was incredibly tight, wrapped around his right thigh and completely stopping the blood flow. The end of the rope was a mess of fibers, as if it had broken because of friction.

"Stop being sentimental about this." he heard Nagito scold Kazuichi. "We've gone too far. It's not the time for that and now Mikan's not here to perform an autopsy..."

He didn't turn, and kept on his own examination. Upon closer inspection of the wounds and the swelling, he could tell more than everyone else. As much as Mikan would have been able, even. But sharing his findings now wouldn't do any good. They had to be exposed during the trial for the others to understand. Getting up, he looked at the trio. Chiaki was looking at them from the end of the hall, too. "Pay close attention when you examine the body. There's something that isn't right." he said as he stepped away to revise the rest of the room. Kazuichi was completely stumped when hearing him, as if his words had been completely out of character. In a way, they were. What was he doing?

There was nothing worth investigating around the room. As he thought, investigating with a suspect in mind did change perspectives a lot. He went downstairs, quickly making his way through the room towards the elevator back to Strawberry House. He was stopped by Ibuki on his way there.

"Hey, are you going to go all silent in the trial again?" she asked him. 

"Not this time." he replied. If he had told Chiaki, he may as well tell her too.

"Oh!" She looked legitimately surprised. She probably had some weird scolding prepared for him, and now he had thrown it on the floor. "Um... cool!" She said, shuffling her feet awkwardly. "Great! I'll go with Sonia! Ibuki will leave everything else to you!" She gave him exaggerated thumbs up and left towards the Grape Tower, probably where Sonia had gone, but Izuru knew he had no reason to bother her. He didn't react or say goodbye to Ibuki in any way, only made his way towards the elevator leading to Strawberry House as soon as his path was free.

There was nobody left in the house. Everyone had moved to Grape House to investigate, however, he had to check something else: the Final Dead Room. The weapon dealing the killing blow to Gundham had to have come from there, as well as the rope. If he was correct, the room itself was the key of the mystery... which was no real mystery at all for him. The only complicated and slightly interesting part was convincing everyone else. Izuru had many talents, but he had never attempted to persuade and convince others. His path had always been laid before him instead, and only now he had steered away from where others set him, he found himself in situations he never expected.

He wasn't sure of how to feel about it.

Still pondering it in his head, he gripped the handle of the door, which opened with a rusty sound. At least three people had gone inside the room: Nagito, himself, and the killer. Well, not quite. There was the matter of who attacked him in his room as well... Would the killer be the same person? He already knew who attacked him, but he hoped it wasn't the case. He wanted to be proven wrong. It felt exciting. At the same time, being wrong was disconcerting and frustrating. So contradictory.  
The room itself was in the same state as the first time he walked in, as if Monokuma simply put everything back in place whenever a player arrived. However, the door at the far back opened immediately after he closed the door he came from. Ever since he beat the Life Threatening game, the door opened automatically, and he had used the shortcut a couple of times already. Once in the Octagon, he didn't see anything striking at first sight, but there were a couple of changes:

One of the mazes right in front of the entrance was missing. Right on his nose. It was probably the maze found along with the body. Some of the bladed weapons were scattered around the floor. Namely, a rack of swords was completely tipped over, and the swords on the floor. Izuru quickly searched for the sword he returned himself, only to find it exactly where he left it: in a rack close to the window. There was no sign of whatever bladed weapon the killer used on Gundham. Either they had cleaned it or dropped it back in place, or the killer still had it with them. There also were a few scratches on the floor, similar to dragging marks. It wasn't easy to make such scratches on a metal floor, yet they existed.   
He searched for where the rope in Gundham's leg had come from. After a few moments, he found the rest of it tucked in a corner of the room, behind a fridge he had completely ignored the last time. As he expected, the rest of the rope was long, several meters long. One of the ends was broken, not in a clean cut, but as if something had worn it out with friction. Just as the rope on the corpse.   
Lastly, he checked the rest of the room for any unrelated changes. There was nothing to be noticed aside from several bottles of poisons and corrosive chemicals inside of the fridges he had overlooked in his first visit. Once he was done. Izuru opened the hatch, caring little if someone saw him dropping from it.

He had to hurriedly change his position while falling in order to avoid landing on Gundham's body. Once in Grape House, Izuru noticed the body was curiously positioned just above the concealed hatch. He looked at the corpse once more, pondering what he had clarified and wondering how he should use it to convince the other students. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a voice behind him.

"Did you find out anything?"

He turned back to find Chiaki looking at him, close to one of the bedroom doors. That was the Standard Room in Grape House, wasn't it? After his attention was brought back to them, he suddenly realized there was something he wanted to ask. "Did you hear anything last night?" He asked bluntly by accident, ignoring her question. "And yes, I clarified a few things, but it's better to explain them at the trial." he hurried to add. He usually never spoke in such a hurry. What was wrong with him lately?

"Um... no, I don't remember hearing anything. But I was in a Deluxe Room. They're soundproof." Chiaki answered. She looked unsure, as if she wasn't completely sure of what to make of him. "Is something on your mind?" She seemed concerned, her sleepy face slightly leaning towards him.

"I wanted to make sure of something... Where are Peko and Akane?" Izuru felt like he was asking too many questions, but he also wanted to find out why Chiaki seemed so... surprised. Was it because he had changed his mind and was actively helping them? He already told her it would only be this once. Only once.

Or at least, that's what he wanted to tell himself. Truthfully, he was still confused. He was just trying things because he didn't have a definite answer. For once, he really didn't.

"They're in their rooms... I think." she replied, the looked towards the end of the corridor. "The left one is Peko's and the other is Akane's." She turned back to him. "I'll go with you if you have to ask them anything."

Izuru simply nodded, not having a problem with it. He headed towards Akane's door first, but before he could knock, the door swung open. Akane had apparently heard them talking. "What's up? You're awful talkative." She wasn't hiding her suspicion at all, but she was also rubbing her eyes with a free hand.

"I wanted to ask you if you heard a strange noise tonight, or any night spent here." Izuru simply cut to the chase.

"Actually... yeah, I think I did." she looked up for a moment, remembering, then put a hand over her mouth to cover a big yawn. "I heard some kind of thud now that you mention it. I have no idea of when it was, though. And I was very tired anyway... It barely woke me up and I went back to sleep right after it."

"Thank you." he said, nodding. "I'll leave now." She was strangely lethargic. She barely waved at him before closing the door right on his nose. 

"She looks really tired." Chiaki observed. It seemed he wasn't the only one to notice.

"Chiaki, does your room have a lock on it?" Izuru asked, something he had been meaning to ask since he was attacked. His door lead to a Standard Room, which didn't have a lock. This meant Crummy Rooms didn't have locks either.

"Yes... don't all of them have one?" Her head cocked to a side.

"No, apparently only the Deluxe Rooms do." Izuru's eyes narrowed slightly. Now he could put everything together. His success depended on how well he could convince others at the trial. 

Like clockwork, the monitors in all of Grape House came to life.

"It appears... that it's time for the class trial..." Monokuma's voice came from the speakers. His image showed him in the monitor sipping a cocktail from a straw while sitting in a fancy chair, as always. However, he didn't look as excited as other times. "To tell you the truth, I'm tired. Extremely tired! I feel like spending the rest of my days hibernating already!" He flopped on his seat, throwing the cocktail away. A faint sound of glass shattering could be heard. "I just wanna ditch... I know I shouldn't..." Giving a few more rolls on his seat, he finally sat upright again. "Though I don't really feel like it... I'll show you my serious side when you come to the class trial. Gather at the Strawberry Tower!"

The monitors shut down after his message. Without wasting time, Izuru set off to the stairs, without waiting for Chiaki. She quickly skipped towards him to keep up.

"We can't even go to the Strawberry Tower." Kazuichi sounded annoyed. He was in the first floor along with everyone else. "I broke the button, remember?"

"If he told us to go there, it must be accessible." Izuru said as he walked down the last few steps. He could feel Kazuichi's nerves tensing up just as he heard his voice.

"There's no point arguing." Sonia's voice sounded uncertain, shaky. Her usual authoritative tone when she wanted to end discussions was gone, and it trembled instead. "Let's just go." Although her voice had changed, it still compelled everyone to simply stop talking and walk into the elevator, slowly. Akane and Peko arrived shortly after. Nobody said another word until they arrived to Strawberry Hall, and found the button for the door miraculously repaired.

"Huh? But I saw Kazuichi pick it apart!" Nekomaru sounded shocked.

"Monokuma fixed it." Izuru said. He was simply stating the facts. "He needed us to use it."

After some uncertainly, Ibuki was the one who finally pressed the button. Some seconds passed before the door opened and let them all go inside. There was nothing new in the tower, but after everyone stepped in, Akane suddenly lifted her head up.

"Do you guys hear something?" She asked.

"Yeah!" Ibuki nodded energetically. "It's like some sort of rumble!"

As if to confirm her words, the whole room rattled and shook violently. Some of the students lost their balance and fell on their knees, but the shaking lasted only for a moment. The ground seemed to split, crumble, and a hole began to open in the middle of the floor. From it, a gargantuan Monokuma head emerged, taking up almost the whole room. It was in the same colours as the Strawberry Tower itself, and its open mouth invited them to go inside. 

"So there is no exit at all." Izuru said. Funny. Monokuma had to go out of his way to simply bring the elevator to them. He hadn't even stumbled during the whole ordeal and remained on his feet, staring at the statue.

"Is he telling us to go to the trial from here?..." Chiaki asked as she got up. She looked tired, which gave her words a sarcastic tone she probably didn't intend.

"W-we should get moving." Sonia said as she recovered. Her hands tightened into fists as she took a deep breath, then walked inside the giant Monokuma head. Kazuichi followed soon after.

Slowly, everyone walked in the mouth of the bear, until he was the only one left. Nagito stood behind as well. Izuru looked at him, taking a last attempt at reading him.

His eyes were challenging him. Yet he wasn't sure of what exactly was that challenge. He had considered so simple, so easy to read... yet... No, no, he knew what was going on inside his head. Nagito himself was the one confused. He hadn't decided his course of action yet. That's why he couldn't read it. Considering himself satisfied, Nagito walked in the elevator. Izuru followed soon after. After the gates closed, it began its usual descent. It rattled and shook all over, very differently from the elevator in the Funhouse. The atmosphere inside was just as oppressive as in the elevator they just took, however. Nobody felt like talking. Nobody felt like joking.

The elevator stopped suddenly, and the gates opened with a loud screeching sound of rusted metal. Light filled the cubicle. Yet again, Monokuma had redecorated the court room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm incredibly sorry for the delay. Aside from the week I announced, I was also out for another week unexpectedly and then university hit me like a truck. Real life is kicking my ass.
> 
> Because I've gone back to classes, I'm afraid I'll be posting a chapter once every two weeks instead. Sorry! ;A;


	16. 16. Slip of the Tongue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been forever... sorry guys, but I've come with bad news.
> 
> I'm no longer going to continue the fanfic.
> 
> DR3 was great, it really was! But it completely killed my will to finish the fanfic. It didn't help that I was already struggling writing a complicated chapter such as this trial but I realised that neither the rest of the development I had planned nor the ending would be something that surprised anyone. Doesn't it happen to you guys that, whenever your theory about a TV show turns out to be right... it doesn't really feel good? That's what happened with me and Izuru in DR3. I won't spoil it for whoever who hasn't watched it yet, but let's say that the reason Izuru had for starting the game was almost what I had planned for the fanfic.
> 
> I don't want to leave you hanging with the teaser of last chapter, which I posted months ago, so I will just post what I had already written of this chapter, although it's not nearly all of what I had planned for the trial. I just don't feel like continuing it.
> 
> To everyone who followed the story, I'm incredibly grateful. You guys are great.
> 
> Feel free to check the unfinished chapter, but it doesn't resolve anything because it was left halfway.
> 
> Once again, thank you.

(If you have skipped the chapter notes, this is only what I wrote of the chapter before dropping it.)

The new courtroom was filled in loud colours. The walls were decorated with enormous cubes, with patterns and shapes drawn in each face, and put together in an uneven way that made the shape of the room uncertain. It certainly wasn't a break from the Funhouse, but rather styled like it. Everyone moved to their assigned seats as if it was some kind of bizarre routine already. After all, this was the fourth time for all of them. Except for Izuru. He had only seen the first two trials from the screen in Monomi's house. He didn't need anything else, though.

"I know you guys must be starving already, but let's get revved up and ready to go!" said Monokuma, looking much more cheerful than in the monitor earlier. It was only a matter of voice, however, since its face wasn't exactly expressive. "Whoever survives will be treated to a fancy lunch!... Rabbit curry is in the menu!"

Monomi, once again, was swinging from a rope in the ceiling of the classroom. "I'm not the main ingredient, right?!" She looked terrified.

"We should first go over the incident." Izuru said, dismissing Monokuma's antics. Considering his silence in the previous trial, most students looked at him in surprise excepting for Chiaki and Ibuki.

"We should but..." Kazuichi looked at him with suspicion painted all over his expression. "Why are you so talkative?"

"I've decided to help you. That's all." Izuru shook his head, then looked at Chiaki. "The girls at Grape House were the first who found the body, so we should put everything together in order."

"Okay." Chiaki nodded, understanding what he wanted. "Sonia found Gundham's body first, right?"

"Y-yes." She replied. Her voice was still shaking. She had put Gundham's hamsters on top of her head, as she didn't have a better place to keep them for the moment. Even the poor animals looked down. "It was a little after seven AM... I walked out of my room to go to Grape Tower for Monokuma Tai Chi... and found the body in the lounge when I was going to see the time."

"Yeah, I remember you screamed, so I shot out of the room!" Ibuki intervened. 

"And then you screamed too, so I went out of my room too." Akane nodded. "Peko was there too, yeah?"

"Yes. That was when the body discovery announcement played." Peko continued when her name was called. Izuru paid special attention to her, given how she had barely been speaking to anyone since they arrived to the Funhouse, or earlier than that, even.

"I came out of my room after the announcement, since I didn't hear them scream..." Chiaki added. "I was in a Deluxe Room, so they're soundproof."

"We heard it too." Nekomaru agreed. "I think Kazuichi, Izuru and I walked out of our room at the same time when we heard it."

"We walked down the stairs to take the elevator after I suggested it could have been at Grape House." Izuru continued. "We found Nagito there, who informed us the elevator was out of order."

"Huh? Why was Nagito downstairs already?" Akane gave him a suspicious look. She hadn't trusted him since his speech at Grape House.

"I was in the bathroom when the announcement played." Nagito responded. Normally, he would have been smiling, but he simply scoffed at her.

"I don't think he's lying." Nekomaru unexpectedly defended him. "I used the bathroom a little after that, and it smelled! Gyahahahaha!" He looked at the other boy as if he was paying him a compliment.

"...Dude, that's gross." Kazuichi's face was a poem of disgust.

"Maybe we should clarify the weapon first." Sonia suggested. It seemed she really wanted to crack the mystery, which wasn't surprising.

"I think it's pretty obvious, Miss Sonia." Kazuichi said. "It's the maze, isn't it? It was right there! And there was blood all over it..."

"So they just beat the crap out of Gundham with the maze?" Ibuki seemed surprised.

"He was hit by the maze, I agree." Izuru intervened. "But, according to the Monokuma file, he died from a stab to his heart."

"So what?" Kazuichi frowned and stared at him.

"How do you stab someone with a maze?" He simply asked.

Kazuichi stood silent for a moment, then looked at Sonia. "Well, uh..." He looked back at Izuru as he found some words to say. "Okay, but they hit him with the maze anyway, didn't they?"

"So we can conclude there were two weapons?" Chiaki wondered. "The maze used to wound him, and something sharp to kill him." 

"And where is that sharp thing?" Akane wondered. 

"In order to find out, we should think about how Gundham was killed in the first place." Izuru suggested, but clearly and making it more of a command than a suggestion.

"Don't you think you're holding their hand too much?" Nagito's voice suddenly interrupted them. He stared at Izuru, hands on hips and eyelids dropped in a glare. "I mean... you've suddenly taken so much interest now, and instead of letting them figure it out themselves, you're doing it for them."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ibuki asked, confused and maybe taking it personally.

Nagito sighed in response. "It means that he's just trying to convince you of his own conclusion without letting you come with your own ideas..." he spoke to everyone, then focused on Izuru again. "That's a talent of yours too, right? Convincing people?"

"Truth or not, he's trying to help us!" Nekomaru defended him, raising his voice above his.

"But he may lead us to the wrong conclusion." Peko argued. "He lied the last time, aiding Mikan, then stood silent in the trial, then kept Mikan from answering us... do you seriously think we should let ourselves be lead by him?" 

"It's in his own interest too to not let the killer win..." Chiaki tried to take Izuru's side.

"But what if he's the killer?" Peko simply wondered.

Silence filled the room for a few seconds. Izuru stood silent as, once again, all eyes were on him. "If you don't wish me to talk and help you, I'll stay quiet." He finally responded, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back, as if he retreated from his original position. "Good luck solving the case."

"You don't have to listen to Nagito!" Ibuki tried to scold him.

"No, I think he has a point... and Peko, too... we don't know if we can trust him." Sonia agreed, looking down. "We should carry on discussing what happened."

"Then..." Chiaki had placed her index over his chin, thinking. "Does anyone know why Gundham was at Grape House to start with?..."

"I guess he went there from Strawberry House before the button was broken." Kazuichi said. "I mean, it's the only way!"

"So... if someone killed him at Grape House, then broke the button in Strawberry House..." Akane was trying her best to think, her eyes closed and furrowing her brows together. "That means the killer got stuck in Strawberry House! So it's one of the dudes!"

"What?! Who?!" Nekomaru suddenly looked surprised. 

"Does that mean all of the boys are suspects?..." Sonia wondered. She didn't look convinced. "There's still the matter of the missing weapon..."

"Fess up, all of you! Or I'll keep punching you until you confess!" Akane threatened, making her hand into a fist and crashing in into her other palm. She was grinning at the thought of having to beat a confession out of someone.

"In order to find out what actually happened..." Nagito spoke calmly. "You guys should solve the secret of the Funhouse first."

"Secret? Like a secret room or a secret item, like in a videogame?" Ibuki asked. "Then Chiaki could find it out!"

"It has more to do with the structure of the Funhouse." Nagito continued. "But... I want you guys to figure it out yourselves."

"If we think about what we know..." Chiaki began, fiddling with the ends of her hood. "Strawberry House is connected to Strawberry Tower... and Grape House is connected to Grape Tower, but we found out the two of them are actually the same."

"Is that the secret of the Funhouse?" Kazuichi wondered out loud, pulling from his beanie in an unconscious imitation of Chiaki's gesture "That they're connected in the middle by the tower?"

"And the tower just opens in one of the sides at the same time to keep the secret!" Sonia continued, excited. "But we figured it out thanks to the experiment with Chiaki's ID! By leaving it in one tower and finding it there again in the other tower, it's confirmed they're the same!"

"Do you think it's that easy?" Nagito scoffed at them, throwing Sonia's enthusiasm down the drain.

"They don't have enough information." Izuru intervened, even if he had been told to stop talking. "You probably thought the same of the structure until you completed the Final Dead Room. They need that hint at least."

"If that's the case, it's not fair at all!" Nekomaru complained. "But at least we can agree the tower is shared by both buildings, right? And, you two completed the Final Dead Room after doing something suicidal. Nobody in their right mind would just point at themselves with a gun!"

"Fine..." Nagito sighed. "We all remember the Octagon, right? A hidden room at the end of the Final Dead Room..." He pulled a hand inside his parka, taking out a digital camera.

"How many things do you keep in there?!" Ibuki shouted in surprise. After all, he had already pulled out of it no less than three different things that wouldn't be easy to hide. "Is it like Dobaemon's magical pocket?!"

"Careful with the witty references!" Monokuma intervened in a hurry, waving his arms angrily. "We could get sued! Quickly! Edit that name in the story!"

"What is he talking about?..." Akane looked clueless. "Anyway, what's that for?" She pointed at Nagito's camera.

"I found it by chance at the Octagon. And it came in handy." He smirked and passed it along to the closest person to him, which happened to be Ibuki. "There was a window there... and after looking through it, that's what I saw. Something doesn't fit, don't you think?"

Ibuki turned on the digital camera... and let out a chocked yell in shock. "Aaaah! Actually... I don't know what this is." She passed the camera along to the next in the circle, Akane. She looked at it for a few seconds before shaking her head and making it advance around the circle again. The camera went to Izuru, who immediately passed it along to Kazuichi. The mechanic spent some more time looking at the picture.

"If it's from... the first floor of Strawberry House..." he said, not sounding too convinced. "Isn't this too high up? I can see huge trees under the building... I'd say it's at a second floor, or a third."

"And?" Nagito invited him to continue.

"...I don't know." He handed the camera to the next in the circle. "Miss Sonia, please... you can solve this, right? But I helped!" He begged, sure, but he was mostly making sure she didn't forget his merit. 

She just snatched the device from his hands and looked at the picture. "If the building over there is Strawberry House... where are the other two?" She wondered, then looked at her peers in confusion. "You haven't noticed? There's no other buildings in this photo... just Strawberry House."

"So... Strawberry House and Grape House are the same building?" Nekomaru wondered. It was the only logical conclusion after hearing those facts, although he hadn't seen the photo himself.

"That's it..." Chiaki lifted a hand, realizing something. "When Nagito suddenly appeared in Grape House... he had to come from above."

"But on top of the second floor of Grape House... there's the third floor." Akane still looked confused. "Are you saying the first floor of Strawberry House and the third floor of Grape House are the same? That doesn't make any sense!"

"And the houses were different shapes, too!" Kazuichi recalled.

"Yet, that's roughly the idea." Nagito nodded. "Strawberry House is on top of Grape House, and the change of shape is only made to confuse us. That's why Monokuma knocked us out when we arrived... so we couldn't see it from the outside."

"That's... impressive!" Sonia put a hand over her mouth. "It was actually a six story building all along!"

"Yeah but... what about the tower?" Kazuichi still wasn't convinced. "Doesn't that destroy our idea that they were actually the same building? But Chiaki's experiment still worked..."

"There's a simple solution to that." Peko responded. She had barely talked so far. "The tower is a lift. When one of the houses open the door, the other house can't open it. Besides, sometimes it took some time for the door to open. Which could mean the floor was moving from one house to the other."

"Then, where do the doors in the tower go?!" Kazuichi balled his hands into fists out of frustration.

"Nowhere. That's why they wouldn't open." Peko concluded her argument and fell silent again.

"I guess... It makes sense." The mechanic sighed. "But this still doesn't explain how Gundham got to Grape House..."

"I've got it!" Nekomaru sudden yell startled everyone. "It has to do with how Nagito moved to Grape House while we were stuck in Strawberry House!" He laughed after saying those words.

"Oh yeah... he did suddenly appear there..." Akane folded her arms, thinking deeply. "And he said he got the 'right' of moving from Strawberry House to Grape House by... finishing the Final Dead Room, right?"

"Plus he appeared right in the lobby, next to Gundham's body." Chiaki commented. She looked back to Izuru, who was biting his lip. It seemed he wanted to speak, but he was trying very hard to keep himself quiet.

"Did they come from the same place?" Sonia wondered.

"But that place is... the Octagon?" Ibuki gasped as she realised. "What if Gundham was murdered at the Octagon?! He could have been stabbed with anything there! I remember Nagito saying it had all sorts of weapons there!"

"But if that happened... why did the killer drop down the body to Grape House? They could have kept it there." Peko said.

"If that's true, they couldn't leave the body there." Chiaki intervened. "To leave, they need a trial... so they need a body to show up."

"But in order to get to the Octagon, Gundham had to play the Life-Threatening game..." Sonia said in almost a whisper. "He couldn't... have played Russian Roulette too, could he?!"

"He's crazy enough to have tried." Kazuichi nodded. "If he wanted the Ultimate Weapon, he had to go there and he's weird enough to want something with such a pretentious name."

"If you think about it..." Chiaki said slowly, as if she was thinking it up on the spot. "It makes sense. The killer could have gone to Strawberry House, break the button for the elevator, then killed Gundham at the Octagon and dropped them down to Grape House..."

"Wait a second, wouldn't that mean that a girl did it instead?" Nekomaru wondered. "They couldn't go back to Strawberry House!"

"No." Nagito shook his head. "Only the button on Strawberry House was broken. They could perfectly push the button at Grape House to go back."

"Hey, hey..." Kazuichi suddenly realized something, as his eyes were wide open. "The only people who could have killed Gundham... are people who completed the Final Dead Room. That means it could only have been Izuru or Nagito!" He accused both of them, giving them suspicious glares. "They're the only ones who played it!"

"I completed the Final Dead Room after Gundham's death..." Nagito remarked. "Although I know you won't believe me."

"And there's also whoever attacked Izuru a few days back!" Ibuki pointed out. "He was attacked with a sword! He showed us!"

"That could have been a ruse he made up! He could have just pretended someone attacked him!" Kazuichi shot back. "Seriously! Why are you always defending him?!"

"Why would I show you I was attacked with a sword, only to kill someone with one?" Izuru intervened. Considering where the conversation was going, the killer could as well have been trying to frame him. "We can't assume only Nagito and me finished the Final Dead Room. Gundham also did it by force."

"I was wondering something about Gundham's body!" Nekomaru changed the topic, either intentionally or he just had a lucky doubt. "There was a rope around his leg. Does it have something to do with his death?"

"I thought maybe the killed trapped him with it." Sonia said. "Have you seen these traps that put a noose on the floor and when the victim steps on it, the noose tightens around their ankle?"

"But the rope was way higher." Akane argued. "It was like... the thigh, not the ankle."

"Akane." Izuru called her name unexpectedly. He felt Nagito glaring at him as he did so. "You told me you heard a sound last night, right? Could it have been Gundham's body falling?"

"Hm..." She rubbed her nose as she thought about it. "Maybe. Sonia screamed a while after that, so maybe I heard it around six AM?"

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Thank you for following the story.

I'm sorry I couldn't complete it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The murderer was Peko Pekoyama, as she was who assaulted Izuru in his room.
> 
> She initially planned to kill him in the Octagon, but she didn't count on Gundham entering instead of him. Thus, she killed the wrong person.
> 
> Whoops, right?


End file.
